Bold Beauty Project

Emily collaborated with photographer Dawn Bowery to create a portrait that questions the impact of labels. How do their projections affect us? How do we decide which labels are right or wrong? Why decide? This portrait, coupled with a narrative Emily wrote on the impact of sexual labels, was displayed in several exhibits in Los Angeles and New York City in 2023. More information on the exhibits can be found here.

Once upon a time, over Saturday morning coffee, I sheepishly confessed to a romantic crush that I was an almost forty-year-old “virgin”. (Yes, we do exist outside the movies.)

As I look back, I find it amusing how I stared at the table during my proclamation (as if it could have given me more courage in my emotional nakedness). At the same time, I’m amazed I managed to maintain a straightforward delivery when sharing my shame with a man I wanted to…ya know.

What strikes me most however is that I clung to a label that shouldn’t have even defined me. I rejected the label “disabled” growing up - I didn’t want it to box me in. And yet decades later, I still allowed the projection of an antiquated Virgin Mary archetype to have power over me.

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to those who helped me with this project. I could not have broken out of the unwelcome labels I carried without the wonderful coaching of Londin Angel Winters. In addition, this project would not have been possible without the talent of Dawn Bowery as well as the incredibly solid support of Justin Morris. All my love to each of them.