Making the Subliminal Visible

Trigger Warning: This post depicts violence against women.

Original image from Harper's Bazaar, Oct. 2014

Remixed image from Pistrang, June 2016

The goal of this transformation was to make the subliminal visible. The original image is one of supposed pleasure and beauty. This photoshopped lower part of a pale white woman’s face has plump lips that are pushed open by her lipstick tube. The only element of her face that could be considered flawed are her chipped, gap teeth. Although they give the appearance of someone too young for braces, they still seem alluring, thereby continuing America’s fetishization of young girls. The phallic shape of the lipstick forces her mouth open and recalls violence against women. In the remixed image, the lipstick is transformed into what it truly is- a white penis thrusting its dominance between her lips. The penis is made out of female body parts to illustrate the role some women play in judging and blaming other women. As evidenced by the split lip, bruise, and bloody nose, the penis (male sexual aggression and rape culture) has enacted further violence on the woman. The bruise is comprised of skin tones from women of color to honor women of "Other" races and ethnicities who are often excluded from conversations about violence against women and beauty standards. In the end, this piece of body is transformed into its hidden self: a fragmented, incomplete, and sexualized object.