Statement for "The Remarkable Ones"
 

"Anti-choicers like to pose hypotheticals about the remarkable baby a woman could have if she didn’t get an abortion: What if they cured cancer? None ask if that woman herself might change the world. They never consider we could be the remarkable ones, if only given the chance."                                                                           -Jessica Valenti

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For centuries, embroidery work was assigned to women under the guise of promoting their femininity. The task was seen as a productive way for women to “occupy their minds” while pushing them on a trajectory limited to the domestic sphere and far away from the same intellectual pursuits available to men. And most importantly, away from the rooms and positions where important conversations were held and laws were made, thus adding more bricks to a world built for men that their daughters and granddaughters would inherit. 

 

I use my needle as a tactile reminder of the oppressive expectations of femininity and motherhood in this country today. They are part of a centuries old misogynistic agenda to limit women’s access to education, hold satisfying employment, accumulate wealth and move through their lives with fully developed voices.  Through my work, I comment on the crushing ways in which misogyny still dictates women’s lives while also reminding women of our own power and strength to fight for our long deserved equality. We are the color pink in the heart of the tornado radar. We are the remarkable ones.

 

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