NOW THAT THE GATES OF HELL ARE CLOSED
When I was a freshman in college a professor opened the first day of class by asking the young ladies on the front row to “please cross your legs”. They complied, quizzically, then he stated, “now that the gates of hell are closed, we can begin”.
Decades later, never having forgotten that class, this is my response.
The emergence of patriarchy obliterated matrilineal cultures, societies in which women had agency and sexual freedom – freedom of choice on so many levels.
Framing women as the guilty party has been a patriarchal tradition – from Eve to blaming female survivors of rape . . . she was drinking, she was flirting, she was wearing provocative clothing, she was jogging in the park at 7:15 in the morning.
This work challenges phallogocentrism to celebrate female sexuality and eroticism.
Now that the Gates of Hell are closed . . . , installation/performance, 2022, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center