Marguerite Manteau Rao

Wedding Night
embroidery, old nightgown, pages from old Christian manual
60 x 18 in.

The piece is part of a larger exhibit I had at San Jose State University, called “In My Mother’s House”. It is a reminder of how far I have come since my mother’s and grandmother’s times, when women’s attitudes towards marriage and sexuality were shaped largely by a catholic ethic, based on duty and submission to her husband.

The embroidery says “I am ready for you my love”, and the trail of pages behind her back were taken from the chapter on ‘marriage’ in a French Christian manual for the young woman, from the early 20th Century.

© Marguerite Manteau Rao