Sandy Orgel Linen Closet

This piece of work challenges gender inequality with the concept of the linen closet being somewhere the women belongs to repeat her daily tasks over and over again. It is quoted on http://www.womanhouse.net/works/cy7vej61ep9fy2qzp4p8bnq66z0s6k “This is exactly where women have always been—in between the sheets and on the shelf.” Said by a visitor I think it is an interesting statement because it is implying women are only good for being used either for sexual pleasure or to complete daily duties and then stored away to be neither seen nor heard. I imagine this would have been more relevant at the time this work was created compared to how women live today, although in many households the women will still do the majority of cleaning and maintaining tasks as well as going out to work.

The use of a mannequin makes me think of a doll and how easily it can be used or manipulated to then be stored away to ‘play’ with later. A mannequin is silent and wont argue back or show any emotions and in some ways I believe this is how women were expected to behave. It seems to me that women weren’t seen as real people during this time and seemed to have a robotic exterior.