What Do You See?!?

Here at Fuller for two weeks, I’ve been looking at this picture every day, multiple times a day.

What do you see?!?

I walk by this piece all the time, and it seems like every time I see something different. It’s clear to me that it’s a man and a woman, but other than that, I see all kinds of things.

Sometimes, I see the woman breaking free of the man, as if it’s an image of triumphal escape from the bondage of male privilege.

Other times, I see him pulling her back, as if she has tasted freedom but is being returned to the systematic oppression embedded in our Tertullianized cultural system.

Still other times, I see the man pushing the woman forward, like he’s an advocate, sort of a modern-day Boniface to her Lioba.

And, other times, I see them moving forward together, as if they are somehow struggling to move forward as partners.

I’ll walk by it again today, and I’ll probably see something different. But maybe that’s the point. Good art speaks to you in different ways, at different times.

And it seems appropriate.

For on this journey toward gender equality, sometimes we’re victorious, sometimes we’re enslaved, sometimes we’re advocates, and sometimes we’re partners.