Not Today, Bitch

Throughout my life, I often find myself questioning structures I grew up to know as de facto. Does the world we live in represent reality to its fullest? Are we victims of our own oppression? Who sets the rules of our behavior? One aspect that seems to confuse me the most surrounds the topic of femininity. Accustomed as our society is to representations of it coming from the eyes of the heterosexual, male gaze; we often associate femininity with something tender, pure, occasionally fragile —something that needs protection. Growing up I carried those values. I had to hide my feminine traits so I could be “normal”. As I matured, physically and mentally, my path led me to appreciate and embrace those aspects of myself. What I realized was shocking. In a patriarchal society that teaches us gender hierarchy and dictates our behaviors, owning one's femininity is a powerful, unapologetic, and fierce act of rebellion. Through “Not Today, Bitch” I object to the mainstream narrative and I manifest genderless feminine empowerment. The work “Not Today, Bitch”, created in 2022, is a recontextualization of Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting ‘Tarquinius and Lucretia” (1620-1650). In the original myth, Lucretia (as depicted in this re-interpretation by myself) was raped and murdered by Tarquinius, an Etruscan King of Ancient Rome. Ironically, Tarquinius conducted this violent assault particularly because of Lucretia’s pureness and innocence. This story of male entitlement inspired me to explore an alternate reality - one where the aggressor becomes the victim of his own violence, where purity does not translate to weakness, and Lucretia fights back. In this work, Lucretia comes back to life through me only to respond to her pillager… “Not Today, Bitch”!