New Piece...

I just put the "finishing touches" (in parentheses because I may decide it's not quite finished later! LOL) on a piece I have been working on for a week or two now. I got this thought in my head about a month ago and it has been in there growing and eating away at my subconsciousness so I "put it to canvas" so-to-speak, like any good artist would do and this is how it manifested.

"The Root of All..."

I am a single mom and I have been on different types of aid while I am working my way through my BA in art and photography. The economy had pretty much gone to the toilet when I first decided to go back to school and my "other half" has been claiming "broke" and so, has not paid any child support in the year since I moved out. He gives us money occasionally (A hundred or two here or there or pays a bill after I have had a complete meltdown.)  I can't understand what I see as his complete lack of concern for the care of his child. I tell you this because it has to do with the piece I just finished. I watch the news, read the papers, read magazine articles every day about the socio-economic role of women in all parts of the world and in all walks of life. Even throughout history. I came across this antique book called, "The Secret  Museum of Mankind, and as there is no publishing date in the book but the photo style appears to be in the 1920's or 30's, you can tell we were still very ignorant about the indigenous people of other cultures. There are clinical descriptions of native women selling themselves into harems or prostitution in order to avoid lives of poverty and slavery, which was itself slavery of a kind. I find it amazing what women will/can do for their families, their children and to try and carve out a decent life for themselves in a world that has always been extremely stacked in the male gender's favor. I am not a die hard, lesbian feminist who hates all men. I am, as I stated before, a hard-working, single mother of two daughters who has grown up in a world where my salary is still shy of men's salaries for the same job. I have been sexually discriminated against, harassed, and humiliated just for being a woman. I have been told that women employees are a "necessary evil". I would have thought that being in the 21st century most of this thinking would have become extinct but it is still out there. My daughters will probably still experience it as well, unfortunately, and I am hoping to teach them how to deal with it and how to get around it and maybe...just maybe... to help overcome it.