Daughter, Wife, Mother
Daughter, Wife, Mother
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photolithography and letterpress wood type on paper
34" x 26"
1998
The triptych Daughter, Wife, Mother represents three traditional stages in a woman’s life. Configured text is comprised of stereotypical associations that condemn female sexuality and promote conventions that disrespect and limit women’s potential. Slang for virginity and prudishness brands Daughter’s face. Words veil the face of Wife, emphasizing the dominant perspective that women alone should lose their freedom when they marry. Mother is obscured by insults that undermine the dignity of caring for children. This text also underlines the common belief that all a woman has to offer is youthful beauty so that aging makes her undesirable and worthless. This subliminal force of language is used in our society to usurp women’s power. Besides inspiring responses ranging from outrage to humor, Daughter, Wife, and Mother invites the viewer to contemplate their own complicity and explore a transformation of these contradictions and inequities.