Woman's Suit

Saying, “For as long as I can remember…” rings like a cliche in my head, but it’s the truth. For as long as I can remember, I have been mimicking those around me (or completely avoiding them) to better appease whatever environment I find myself in. And I’m tired. I’m on the cusp of being a 48-year-old woman, and I still find myself lamenting to my therapist, “I don’t know who I am!” Because for so many years, I’ve been everyone else.

Woman’s Suit is a testament to my daily life of masking. Falling into a “right-off-the-rack” ideology of what an adult woman should look/act like, especially by American standards. Every day is the same mechanics, of putting on and taking off. The only relief? When I’m in complete solitude, and even then, the mask is hard to remove.