What was she wearing?

 

Abstract: “What was she wearing?” are never words I want to hear after hearing stories about sexual violence against women. In light of the #MeToo movement and the current landscape and dialogue around sexual assault, I want to bring attention to the inequality, injustice and issues women face when they bravely report sexual violence crimes. This idea of victim-blaming in the mere question, “what was she wearing?” was always something that angered me. Does it matter what she was wearing when the crime was committed against her will?

 

To draw attention to this issue, I want to use the concept of the Freudian slip as a metaphor to insinuate why people ask this question. According to Wikipedia:

 

“A Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of an unconscious subdued wish or internal train of thought.”

 

In its broader definition, a Freudian slip is “an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings.” I am introducing the idea that the question “what was she wearing” is a Freudian slip because it is an error in thought and is due to the interference of an unconscious association with revealing-clothing and sex crimes. There should be no association with the two and it should be mutually exclusive. This unconscious association is what perpetuates the idea of victim-blaming.

 

To convey this idea, I am exhibiting a women’s slip with Freud’s words painted on the slip. The slip is a pun for the idea of the Freudian Slip while simultaneously presents itself as a sexy article of clothing a woman could be wearing during the time of the crime.

 

My intention is to get viewers to question why they are asking the question “what was she wearing” and presenting this question as a Freudian slip.

 

Exhibit:

 

 

 

What was she wearing? | 2018

Materials: silk slip and acrylic paint