Lesson #1

Albright's "Into the World there came a Soul Named Ida" and Flack's "Marilyn"

According to the law in the United States, prostitution is illegal. Insalubrious women are hauled off the street corners, placed before an unforgiving judge, and sentenced to stamp license plates behind bars. And most mothers and fathers would thank the dutiful lawman that picked up the prostitute, praising him for cleaning our city's streets and protecting their child's mind from the wanton ways of society. However, the very next day in the grocery store check out line, that same mother and father allow their thirteen-year-old daughter to throw a copy of Glamour magazine into the buggy. The thirteen year old goes home, shuts her bedroom door, and indulges in the sights of super-thin, beautiful, half dressed teens making thousands of dollars smiling before a camera. In her own mind, the thirteen year old evaluates and compares her pre-pubescent body to the camera enhanced image in the magazine feeling fat, ugly, and worst of all, completely worthless. So the question is posed: Is eliciting sex from a street corner the same thing as prostituting oneself in the pages of a magazine? Such is the social and moral question raised when comparing Ivan Albright's "Into the World there came a Soul Named Ida" and Audry Flack's "Marilyn." According to The American Heritage Dictionary prostitution has two definitions. The first we are all familiar with: "one who solicits and accepts payment for sex acts." The second definition, however, is a little less familiar: "to sell (oneself or one's talent) for an unworthy purpose." Both Albright and Flack approach the social and moral issue of how women are prostituted in society, only differing in which definition they choose to visually portray.

"Into the World there came a Soul Named Ida" approaches prostitution from the first definition. Ida, an aged prostitute, looks longingly into a hand-held mirror reflecting on days when her body produced income instead of despair. The use and abuse Ida receives from society is evident in the torn clothing draping the floor, the burning cigarette, and the taunting money lying on top of the vanity. Ida's face poses the despairing question of "what next?" Obviously past her prime, Ida questions her worth. Because Ida once based her livelihood upon her ability to temporarily seduce men to her side, as her ability to seduce diminishes, so does her soul. However, the point Albright is making is that Ida has a soul. As a small child Ida probably never said, "When I grow up, I want to sell myself on a street corner for the pleasure of morally challenged men." She, too, once held childhood hopes and dreams, and though her innocence may be lost her worth as an individual should not be.

Flack's painting, "Marilyn," approaches the social and moral issue of prostitution from the stance of the second definition: "to sell (oneself or one's talent) for an unworthy purpose." The painting voices Flack's stance on the abuse of women in society by drawing off an American icon, Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn's pursuit of fame was successful; however, it is a tragedy tainted with scandal, drug abuse, and depression. Monroe serves as the ideal for American beauty and sensuality. Flack captures this sensuality through her use of strong rich colors and the objects that appear on the vanity. Most of the objects Flack portrays would not be found under normal circumstances on a normal bedroom vanity; the objects are there to indicate that Marilyn's life and labor of love was "vanity," and thus an unworthy goal to pursue. Both the pear and the hourglass in the picture make reference to the 32-24-32 hourglass figure that was so praised and desired in Marilyn's era. The calendar, the pocket watch, and the hourglass serve as a heavy reference to time, perhaps noting that Marilyn's prostitution led to her early destruction. The most acute object however is the paintbrush. It makes Flack's statement clear: Marilyn's life was a picture. Her beauty was not real, but a beauty painted by publishers, directors, and the public. Marilyn sold herself and her talent for an unworthy purpose. So I ask: Why are some prostitutes hailed as American icons while others spend their lives stamping license plates?

pictures on this page provided by: web.presby.edu/~mranders/art/appre/lessons/1/