Gillian Sargeant, Queen of Swords, 30″ X 50,” oil on canvas
Too Few Women in the Political Pipeline
The New York Times, 2/26/17
The curved sides are rough, I don’t know what kind of metal they use to make these pipes. My knees are raw, and the palms of my hands. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn these shorts. My eyes are wide but I see only darkness. From behind I hear shouts of Hurry it up! The woman ahead of me is panting out loud, or maybe that’s me. I’m crying and my nose is dripping, I wipe it on the back of my hand. I don’t remember how I got here. Maybe I’ve already died and this is how it’ll be for me from now on. Perspiration rolls down my face. The salt burns my eyes and I try to wipe it away with the back of my other hand. The sounds: panting of women, maybe a dozen, maybe a hundred in the stuffy air – it’s so hard to breathe, as if the air is full of dusty feathers – and echoes of sobs.
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Andrea Jackson
Review by Claire Scott
A great take on the NYT article. I love how you moved from the abstract to the concrete. This poor woman! And all the others ahead and behind her. You show so well what the challenges are for women, and the sacrifices: “panting,” “crying,” “only darkness” and “Maybe I’ve already died. Bravo!