Paved in Pink

It’s supposed to be pink–from the painted walls of our nursery, to the blanket we are first swaddled in, from the bows in our hair, to our tricycle–it’s supposed to be pink.

For the first twelve years of my life, everything I owned had to be pink, or at least I felt it should be. This has led me to question the implications of conforming to or confronting societal expectations of femininity. As a woman in her early thirties looking to become a wife and mother, I’m preparing for what it will be like to raise a daughter through this prescribed social structure of female identity. How do I raise her to embrace her femininity without having to obey the stifling pink roadmap that I followed through the eighties and nineties growing up?

As her mother, I will be her most immediate reference to what it looks like to be feminine. Everything I am will influence her perception of femininity–what I wear, how I balance motherhood with professional life, and the roles within our family structure. I enjoy feeling feminine, while also participating in modern ideas of feminism and equality. For me, pink still represents the feeling of blindly living out what a female should be. Through the years I have grown to hate the color pink, so you won’t find it anywhere in my closet or home decor.

Paved in Pink affirms the constraint of perpetuating female iconography and my own predisposition towards a life that has been “pinked.” In realizing my own responsibility in raising a daughter in this society, I have placed myself in scenes where pink ties me down and stains my everyday interactions. The series features abnormally pink objects to illuminate how this process of socialization feels to me.

Even though I have been able to personally form my own idea of what it means to be female, I still feel those expectations that were originally presented to me as a young girl. Others may not see or feel the lasting effects of this inevitable process of identity formation, but I still face it daily. It seems just about everyone has his or her own version of this to battle. I am curious to see how future generations will engage with socialization and issues of identity.

_____________________________________________________________________

The series is printed on linen, matted in white, and ready for exhibition.