Women are Women (not men)

Paintings by Pearl Red Moon

By Pearl Red Moon

Cover illustration is "Thank you Emi Ito"

60 x 90cm. Collage of gelatin printed papers and acrylic painting on masonite board. 2024.

Emily Ito is an American/Japanese social justice warrior who accused me of being a racist in 2017 because I defended that to use the word "kimono" for a wide sleeved loose fitting coat, was not a cultural appropriation in my opinion.

The painting does not resemble the real person Emily Ito. I just wanted to pay tribute to her as the activist who set me off on a journey to discover what the woke movement is.

The exhibition "Women Are Women (not men)" opened on December 6th, 2024 at the Old Tattersalls Hotel in Murrurundi. It was open over 2 weekends on the dates 6, 7, 8 and 13, 14 and 15th December.

Artist statement by Pearl Red Moon for the show

Ironically, though my art isn't "political" in recent years I've felt compelled to make political statements defending what I believe is truth and reality.

In all the time I've been an artist I ignored the postmodernist movement. It always seemed a ridiculous premise that an artist needed to claim artmaking was a political statement or your work didn't have credibility. Until the latter part of the 20th century no artmaker in history needed to make such a claim. Postmodernism is not only an art movement but a philosophical and ideological social phenomenon that cross fertilised into the "woke" movement during my lifetime and seven years ago it became something I could no longer ignore.

As a person who had always had leftist political leanings I fell into an existential crisis to discover there is a movement asserting that men can turn into women. As a woman I am instinctively more a feminist than a political ideologue, so I began speaking out about my resistance to the claim. This resulted in a wave of unfollowings and cancellations on social media and being expelled from arts events and organisations. For not believing humans can change sex I was called names like terf, bigot and nazi. It became apparent not believing men can turn into women is not a thing that can be discussed in public places, let alone challenged. Gradually I discovered there is a strong and growing resistance movement to transgender ideology, and it is with these women that I feel solidarity.

My exhibition called "Women Are Women (not men)" is dedicated to Sall Grover, the Australian woman who is challenging the Federal Govt in court in 2025 to clarify in legal terms what is a woman. I commit to donating 20% of any sales to supporting the legal costs of the court case.

More about this page is coming soon.