La Vue
I unknowingly began the research for La Vue as a young woman, when my body fit comfortably within the western heteronormative ideals of beauty created by our society. I found myself trying to hide my curves to avoid unwanted sexual attention while simultaneously trying to mimic the women glorified in magazines. At the same time, my religion was teaching me that a woman is responsible for the desires of men; that is, she must manage to avert men’s “natural impulses.”
As my curves developed and the suggestive indignities intensified, so did my confusion about myself and how I met, or failed to meet, any of the unrealistic expectations. I was determined to create a different narrative, one that fit my ostensibly moral compass, one that would “avert” lewd comments, groping, and other personal affronts. I disguised my body with baggy t-shirts, long pants, and sneakers. And with this change in presentation, I earned a new set of names: prude, lesbian, a killjoy. I was trapped in the interstices of social demand, caught between the conflicting projections of church and media. I was a young woman lost in my lack of identity, of purpose, of future.
Now that I have passed childbearing age and my hourglass figure has been replaced with a menopause girdle, I have become securely invisible, but women and our bodies are still under constant scrutiny; we are to be modest yet sexy, thin but voluptuous, young yet mature. We are expected to mold ourselves into a patriarchal vision rife with rigid yet inconsistent rules. As we necessarily fail to comply with these imposed canons of social construction, our self-esteem plummets.
Escaping the confines of societal expectations, La Vue emerges as an exploration of the delicate equilibrium between a woman's relationship with herself and her perceptions of beauty. Through this project, I empower women to reclaim and redefine the essence of women’s beauty, and as a result, deconstruct the cycle of oppressive beauty standards that hobble women’s ability to savor the richness of liberty. This series challenges conventional standards set by western culture and reinforced by the male gaze. The exhibition tells a story of beauty reclaimed through pain, joy, and unity, and ultimately, it offers an immersive experience designed to nurture reflection and grace, for the power of all transformation lies quiet within the intricate layers of revised and reformed perspective with a central message that our beauty transcends even the darkest moments, emphasizing that perfection is not a prerequisite.
