by J. Otis Powell
Amnesia
regarding social, cultural and political movements is
fashionable,
in part, because patriarchs would
rather not acknowledge how the
shape of the world changed.
There is
backlash and reform
afoot, at this moment,
turning back the clock
and reinstating values that took
away the rights of women
to be adults,
to be self determined,
to be equals.
No wonder
Patricia appears to be in control of her expression,
a moments lapse might mean her demise.
She had to change the world
to live in it.
She had to live in the world as herself in order to make it a different place.
The picture is not lying, she is strong.
She is undaunted
by the willful ways society tried to humiliate her
but
she
never
surrendered
her
autonomy
to
the
narrow
places
left
for
her.
