“The girl with scissors” Print

Being a girl, a woman, or a lady in Central Asia is somewhat complex. Not always, of course, not always! But often. From birth, parents may be disappointed that you're not a boy; after all, a boy continues the family line, while a girl is seen as more of an assistant (first in her own home, then in someone else's). The mother of a girl often feels guilt toward her relatives for her child's gender, and nobody seems to consider that the father is responsible for the gender during conception. In this painting, I wanted to convey the weariness of the circumstances and the entanglement in various factors, as well as the revulsion. The rope around the neck, like a collar, obliges the female figure to be someone's domestic pet—convenient and servile. The scissors are a symbol of liberation from the unnecessary, whether it's thoughts in the mind, self-disrespect, or something else. Many of us are in great need of them. Somewhere in the corners of her lips, a scornful smirk hides. If this smirk were a separate being, capable of speech, it would say, "I've got you all figured out. Go to ****." There's a certain dignity in that smirk. It carries an air of "no more of this nonsense in my life," you know. There's hope in it. In the next moment, the girl will remove the rope from her neck, take a deep breath, and stand up to put on her favorite outfit.