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Madonna/Whore, 2021
A Illustration by Marc Brechwald
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"Where men love, they have no desire, and where they desire they cannot love."
It was Freud who first gave this complex a name, but it has been around forever. As the theory goes, men divide women into two groups: the Madonnas (respectable, loved but not desired) and the Whores (impure, sexually desired but not worthy of love). Provocative theory, certainly, but is it really that black and white? Are "Saint" and "Slut" the only two options available to women? And are men really that binary in thinking and reductive in their views of the fairer sex?
Freud's theory goes on to imply that these stereotypes are also mutually exclusive; one must be either/or. But who's to say a woman can't be viewed as valuable and worthy of love while still maintaining and even exhibiting a healthy sexual appetite?
To epitomize this dichotomy, I chose to draw a fictional character / pop culture icon - Catwoman, as portrayed by actress Michelle Pfeiffer. In this piece, I am attempting to show how both stereotypes can and do coexist within this singular character. Notice the difference in each side's makeup, in her wardrobe - black latex versus powder blue cashmere. She is a superhero/villain, so of course the contrast is exaggerated for effect. But it's not so easy to discern in real life, is it? After all, isn't there a little Madonna and Whore in all of us?
