Martin Firrell
What Oppresses Us
2022
What Oppresses Us
depicts ‘manspreading’, banned on Madrid’s public transport on the grounds that it is antisocial behaviour.

But when researchers asked women to rate the attractiveness of men in photographs, those images where the men’s legs were spread apart were rated the most highly.

So manspreading: antisocial or sexy?

French feminist theory of the 1970s suggests that any oppressor, by definition, has the power to shape all of the responses of the oppressed, including what the oppressed come to regard as desirable.

The artist seems to be implying, ‘We don’t like it, but we like it, don’t we?’
Part Of
The Gallery Season 1: Straight White Male
Medium
Digital and paper billboards, various dimensions
Displayed
UK, 19 July - 15 August 2022
Artwork
RGB jpg
see all formats
Download
Hi-res image
Archive
1 image
Commissioned by
The Gallery / Artichoke Trust
Share