Roe v. Wade

This piece was inspired by my real-life experience as a pregnant 22-year-old student and employee at the University of Pittsburgh in 1969. I was using birth control pills but needed to stop because of negative physical reactions to them. I had been having occasional sex with a dental student but when I told him “I went off the pill” he still persisted and pushed me into having sex with him, not listening to me. I struggled but couldn’t escape. He didn’t listen. I tried in vain to reason with him. I ended up pregnant and had to find a "back-alley" solution to end the pregnancy. In my Roe v. Wade art-piece the story begins with me in the doctor’s office as he confirms that I am pregnant.

We didn’t have the consciousness of “date rape” or “No means No.” The 60’s were different times when women’s voices weren’t heard or listened to. To put it into perspective there were no cell phones yet and computers were as big as rooms so we didn’t have quick ways to get information and abortion was illegal. Women were not very outspoken and “had to remember their place." American women had limited possibilities for the future, the most mainstream was having a family and running a household in your early 20’s. I had already done that when I was 11, raising my baby brother and cooking the meals for the family for 5 years. I knew that future was not for me. I worked at the University and was able to get free tuition. I basically took classes at night and worked in the day.

In this mixed media art piece I used toys water colors, acrylic paints, photo copies, foam core and ink. There is a lot of information in the photo copy time line explaining the evolution of sexual freedom through the years.