Sit Like a Lady 2

Monotype, Oil, 51″ x 40.5″

We are taught to play roles every day, worrying about what we are supposed to do, and stressing about what every other person thinks of us. We are told what makes a lady, that it is something intangible, yet ever important. It lives in the way we speak, walk, and dress. I thought of my mother as this piece came to life, and she said, “sit like a lady.”

She sits confident and powerful, in a body position often associated with men. In this ‘wide’ position, she challenges the customary gender stereotypes of ‘a powerful position’ for a man being ‘a sexual signal position’ for a woman. Sit Like a Lady is a visual metaphor for the practice of ‘wo+manspreading.’