White Squaw

 
 

White Squaw, 2014

Series of 24 archival pigment prints on archival photo paper & 24 used White Squaw books

Edition of 3

White Squaw is a series of prints based on the “adult western” romance novels published in the 1980s and 90’s under the same title. Featuring a promiscuous half-Native heroine, the book’s taglines drop with cringe-worthy sexual innuendo. 

The word ‘squaw’ is a derogatory term that referred to the private parts of women. For Red Star, this work is about taking back ownership of the word and reframing the word to create a new context. With superficial satire, Red Star inserts herself as the lubricious heroine putting focus on the blatant racism and sexism still rampant in contemporary culture. 

– Text by Dr. Jordan Amirkhani