FLESH AND BIND

Flesh and Bind is a piece that has lived within me for decades, a deeply layered narrative exploring the many ways women have been bound—physically, emotionally, and socially. It reflects the centuries-old weight of patriarchal expectations that demand we remain pleasing, composed, and compliant while enduring pain, judgment, and the constant burden of derogatory labels. My own experience of physical binding—first through the back brace I wore for scoliosis, and now through the internal rods and screws that hold my spine—mirrors these societal restraints. The body becomes both vessel and prison, echoing the historical control of women through corsets, straightjackets, and the scold’s bridle. These instruments, once used to contain “hysteria” and silence willful women, are metaphors for the ongoing struggle to exist authentically in a world that seeks to bind us still. Flesh and Bind is both a lament and a reclamation of strength.