Artists Muse Whether Art Follows Life or Life Follows Art

Subscribe to Monthly Review!

compadre,

if i injected my flesh with silicon

did hundreds of situps a day

wore lacey push-up bras

got surgery to correct my Asian single-eyelid

wore subtle lipstick, concealer, and gloss

made my gaze bruised with shadow and mascara

wore dainty stiletto heels and flippy skirts

got some hips

would you buy me then?

hermano,

does market follow demand, or demand follow market?

i want to be the white girls of your wet dreams with million-dollar

prosthetic bodies, $40,000 makeovers, features imprinted on your cock

by billion-dollar industries

I am beautiful in my mind

until you choose them instead

slap my ugliness to my face

and you tell me you don’t understand this kind of competition!

i didn’t write the rules

of this game you don’t recognize

you just follow the market, the ads, the art, the enterprise. . . .

shaping the sadness of my sickness

Sisters, come together and incite

refugees of false dreams to unite.


Huibin Amee Chew is active in anti-imperialist, feminist, and immigrant rights activism in Boston.  She can be reached at <hachew@gmail.com>.