The Black Dahlia

This piece is an ode to Elizabeth Short. I have chosen her as mascot for all female victims of sexual abuse whose voices only became heard once their violated bodies and gruesome murders became subject to mass intrigue and fascination. Elizabeth was a young woman whose murder is one of the oldest unsolved cases in Los Angeles History. Her body had been prepped and washed by her killer, "posed” in order to create a stunning display of an utterly ravished female carcass, surely the killer’s very own masterpiece. In 1947, She was found mutilated in Leimert Park, her body severed at the waist and drained entirely of blood. Her face had been slashed from the corners of her mouth to her ears, creating the effect known as the Glasgow Smile. Elizabeth had several cuts on her thigh and breasts, where entire portions of her flesh had been sliced away. The lower half of her body had been positioned a foot away from the upper, with her hands over her head, elbows bent, legs spread apart, her intestines tucked neatly beneath her buttocks.

Elizabeth Short’s notorious unsolved murder became the source of widespread speculation, inspiring many books, television and film adaptations of the story. I am using the tragic and gruesome tale of Elizabeth to comment on the male gaze and projected feminine ideals; the female victim is glorified so elegantly, as a sort of mysterious and sensual Goddess of eternal sleep, as oppose to a human being turned butchered slab of meat.