Prey Tell
5'4"x 6" | 2024 | Charcoal, found objects
5'4"x 6" | 2024 | Charcoal, found objects
To be blunt, the conservative Christian university where I spent my freshman year was full of:
Sheep - naive young individuals whose abstinence-only sex education failed to educate them about sex, consent, or self-protection; whose families expected this community to be safe.
Wolves - predators harboring suppressed, taboo desires who operated without consequences because the sheep would be silenced by shame, believing that no one will love them without their purity.
Sheep - naive young individuals whose abstinence-only sex education failed to educate them about sex, consent, or self-protection; whose families expected this community to be safe.
Wolves - predators harboring suppressed, taboo desires who operated without consequences because the sheep would be silenced by shame, believing that no one will love them without their purity.
These predators came in unexpected forms: a pre-seminary upperclassman (now a youth pastor in Michigan), an art professor, a star in the church choir.
In conservative Christian purity culture, girls are taught that they are the gatekeepers. They are instructed to keep their bodies covered, lest men—helpless against sexual temptation—succumb to sin. Heteronormative marriage is the ultimate aspiration (achieving a "ring by Spring" of freshman year was the gold standard). On their wedding night, women are expected to transition magically from guardians of chastity to eager and proficient sexual partners, fulfilling a biblical duty to unconditionally cater to their husbands' needs.
In this piece, this artist-sheep reflects on her sexual assault, a devastating stain on her purity at the hands of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She hopes even though she’s been “ruined” she will still be accepted by her family, church community, God, and future spouse.
