“Dear Mr Trump” by Neroli Henderson

“Dear Mr Trump” by Neroli Henderson

This is one in a series of posts featuring an artist whose work is included in the Threads of Resistance exhibition.

Artist’s Statement:

Dear Mr Trump,

here’s my pussy and you can’t grab it, I don’t care how rich you are.

I’m naked but you can’t sexualize me.

I’m not your honey and never will be.

I’m more than a collection of my parts.

I’m standing here with my legs spread telling you that I’m your equal.

You don’t speak for me.

You don’t stand for me.

You don’t represent what I represent.

My body, my choice.

And so Dear Donald … go fuck yourself.

Me.

Why a nude woman? Women’s nipples are cause for censorship, whereas men’s nipples are OK, so using a nude woman to me is a bit of a middle finger up at the gender disparity I see daily. Also as an anti-Trump piece, I see a man who boasted of the way he sexualises women, and a way for me to get across my feelings on this is to use a nude woman, a woman whom he (and many other people) would sexualise even more, who would be perceived as being more vulnerable due to her lack of clothes or “armoury.” I think it gives more power to her stance. She is unapologetic for her nakedness, she is not feeling the slightest bit vulnerable or bare. She’s telling the world to back the hell off and that it’s her body and her choice. It shows that women can be powerful and it’s only society’s own perceptions of sexuality and nakedness that skew the concept of what amount of skin is OK. How can we move forward towards true equality when we elect a man into the highest office in the world who has openly spoken about objectifying and mistreating women? It sends a message to males everywhere that behaviour of that sort is acceptable. I for one am sick to death of hearing how women taunt men into sexual assault through how they dress or what they do, when the onus should be on men behaving better.

Various words are stitched into the background of this piece including: ‘Nice Girls Don’t’, ‘Eat Your Words’, ‘Trust Me’ and ‘Think.”

 

Hear a message from Neroli about her piece below: