10x10 oil over acrylic on cradled panel
This painting pays homage to Barbara Kruger, who always nailed the assignment. I bet she’d have a thing or two to say about little girls being made of “sugar and spice and everything nice.” As a tomboy myself, this feels like an insult to all the messy and not perfectly sweet lives of actual little girls, who shouldn’t be told they have to be nice all the time. I’d even go so far as to say, politeness can kill you. Don’t believe me? Ask the women who helped Ted Bundy (with his fake-cast) put stuff in his car.
Oh that’s right ...
You can’t.
Because they were killed.
Girls are taught to stay small and apologize, (even when they aren’t at fault). Did you see that documentary about the Mormon cult leader Warren S. Jeffs? Called “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey”? Blech. So yeah, I rail against the idea of teaching little girls that they’re made of sugar and spice and everything nice because some of us are made of skinned knees, and black eyes from fighting little assholes who said girls weren’t allowed in the tree fort. Ahem.
I was a tomboy (and I know that comes as a shock to absolutely no one). My mom wanted me to play with dolls. I wanted to engage in fancy swordplay with sticks, because I saw Star Wars and needed to practice my sweet light saber moves. Or, if you believe the internet, maybe I liked playing with sticks because Mom was right after all, and I wasn’t going to be happy until someone lost an eye.
Oh! I just thought of an alternate title for this painting: Fuck Your Expectations.
10x10 oil over acrylic on cradled panel
This painting pays homage to Barbara Kruger, who always nailed the assignment. I bet she’d have a thing or two to say about little girls being made of “sugar and spice and everything nice.” As a tomboy myself, this feels like an insult to all the messy and not perfectly sweet lives of actual little girls, who shouldn’t be told they have to be nice all the time. I’d even go so far as to say, politeness can kill you. Don’t believe me? Ask the women who helped Ted Bundy (with his fake-cast) put stuff in his car.
Oh that’s right ...
You can’t.
Because they were killed.
Girls are taught to stay small and apologize, (even when they aren’t at fault). Did you see that documentary about the Mormon cult leader Warren S. Jeffs? Called “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey”? Blech. So yeah, I rail against the idea of teaching little girls that they’re made of sugar and spice and everything nice because some of us are made of skinned knees, and black eyes from fighting little assholes who said girls weren’t allowed in the tree fort. Ahem.
I was a tomboy (and I know that comes as a shock to absolutely no one). My mom wanted me to play with dolls. I wanted to engage in fancy swordplay with sticks, because I saw Star Wars and needed to practice my sweet light saber moves. Or, if you believe the internet, maybe I liked playing with sticks because Mom was right after all, and I wasn’t going to be happy until someone lost an eye.
Oh! I just thought of an alternate title for this painting: Fuck Your Expectations.
