Dress Up
Image Description: A pile of clothing and fabric pieces spread across a bed. The materials include different colors and textures, such as brown, pink, black, and patterned fabrics. The background shows a quilted blanket underneath.
I spent my early years feeling empowered by wearing the clothes of fairies and princesses. As I learned and grew, I felt guilty and confused about my preferences.
The dark hues creeping into this image represent the darkness of “dressing up” as something I was not by conforming to heteronormativity as a child. At times, I thought that rejecting this feeling meant I had to reject femininity itself.
The blurred, pastel shades represent a rediscovered beauty of dressing up as I share a closet with my girlfriend, our skirts and dresses thrown onto my childhood quilt.
Danger, objectification, gender roles, and uncomfortability made femininity feel tainted when I was younger, but in sapphic spaces I feel that it is reclaimed.