Tutu is my final textile piece made using tutus from my childhood. This semi-transparent and delicate material embodies my childhood and growing up with the male gaze. I wanted to portray how society, the media and the toy industry influence the mind of little girls, shaping it to fit the patriarchy.
I always found it unfair how gender segregation in kids makes little girls focus on their looks and appearance and how this affects our body image ideals as women. Girls are moulded into objects of desire from a very young age, and I know from my own personal experience how this has affected my mental health as a woman. In this piece, I refer to my own childhood by using tutus and other pink fabrics and take ownership of my own experience by tearing and mending the fabrics to form a layered textile piece, attempting to rewrite my own perception of my body. By using this delicate material that represents the small definition of femininity that we are forced to embody, I want to break away from the trappings of this toxic cycle. What I wanted to do with the piece is unravel my childhood from a perpective of an informed feminist, and see the bigger picture. It also shows how when your foundation is weak, the rest of the structure will also be affected.