In terms of love, I don’t always feel like I have authority to speak on it. But when it comes to commenting on an image I saw on Pinterest, I feel like I have the MOST authority. That being said, let me tell you what has been occupying my brain since it came across my desk:

Yesterday, I was doom scrolling through Pinterest during my Atmospheric Sciences class (I'm a sociology and art history double major) looking for mod-60s outfit inspo for the next day and a buffalo chicken dip recipe for the Grammy’s watch party I am hosting. That’s when I stumbled upon an image which took me by surprise: a statue in a classical antiquity style of a man, kneeling before a woman, gazing up at her. 

This image, to me, was highly unusual. This ancient artifact of a man bowing before a woman??? The dots weren’t connecting for me. I ran to the Pinterest comment section (a scary place) and looked for the title of the work. With no luck there, I conducted a quick google search and ultimately found the name: Adoration by Stephan Sinding, a Norwegian sculptor working in the early 20th century. 

This intrigue was ample enough ammunition for me to be distracted for the rest of my lecture. 

At this point, I am sifting through websites on Greek mythology trying to find out why an artist would make such a “progressive” sculpture. I was loving the idea that someone out there was confronting the strong-man-push-over-woman narrative in 1903. Eventually, I found the potential source of this rare depiction: the Greek mythology story of Pygmalion, an acclaimed sculptor, who falls in love with the woman who he crafts with marble. Upon wishing he could spend the rest of his life with his enchanting statue, Aphrodite, a seemingly amazing wing woman, decides to grant his wish and bring the woman, Galatea, to life. 

Idyll by Stephen Sinding

A man’s perfect woman is the one he carves from a block of solid marble. A woman of his own design and subjugation. Classic! Here I was praising this work for being feminist, yet it is tale as old as time, quite literally. I think we are all sick of this weird male fetishization of the pure and untouched. Obviously, this is not a hot take, but this statue made me think about how these ideas haven’t ceased, yet they have morphed with the progression of generations. Instead of carving a woman from marble, in this day we pick models from early ages, filmmakers pick their muses, and based on my experience, men still have a hard time relenting when you confront their vision of you. Our society seems under this Pygmalion spell. Love and control, a fine line. 

I found myself thinking about the movie Her, the 2013 film directed by Spike Jonze starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansen (one of my favorite movies ever if you haven’t seen it). In this film, Phoenix’s character, Theodore, falls in love with an AI named Samantha, created from a code with the goal of finding people their perfect partner. The thing about Her is it basically shows the epilogue in a Pygmalion narrative. Samantha's code becomes so nuanced and developed that she starts emoting in her own autonomous ways, and she ultimately refuses to conform to what her “perfect” programming for him is. This historic narrative changes in this moment as she decides she wants to be and is more than an object of creation for others pleasure.  If only Galatea could have seen Her! Wake up girl! 

After this spiral, I feel better about going into Valentine’s day another year single. Manifesting no Pygmalion energy for you this year. 

Ps. I will update on how my buffalo chicken dip comes out. 

- izzy

@izzyyrudy  @the_editbyizzy

statue in collage: Adoration by Stephen Sinding 

visuals by izzy