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Christian Woman of Virtue was performed at the Liverpool Biennial and was subsequently published in C magazine's Spring 2000 Issue #65.
Christian Woman Of Virtue is an experimental single channel video production of approximately 45 minutes. The narrative consists of seven autobiographical narratives based on the seven virtues and incorporates the live performance that took place in public spaces in the UK.
Christianity adopted the Roman
model of appropriate behavior for women when it began to become
a legitimate religion. According to Roman law the public woman
was a sexual woman and a woman's honor was her shame. A man gained
honor through challenging another man's honor successfully or
by avenging any loss of honor of his own. A woman demonstrated
her honorability by comporting herself with shame, signifying
that she understood her sexual vulnerability, and avoiding all
appearances of indiscretion. Femaleness functioned as a cultural
symbol for shame and ultimately led to the proclamation by an
Anglican Bishop in England upon the question of the ordination
of women, that a woman offering up the communion offers "the
sight the sound and the smell of perversion.
Cultural mixed messages about feminine significance that reflect
the ambivalence about women's leadership emerged as the gospels
were taking their final canonical form and continue to shape attitudes
towards women within both a sacred and secular context . In this
project Christian Woman of Virtue, I explore the theme of ambivalence,
reverberating between shame and reverence in the reclaiming of
a life with spirituality.