Feminist Artwork Sparks Controversy At Cheltenham HS

CHELTENHAM, PA — A piece of feminist artwork at Cheltenham High School has sparked a controversy as some parents believe the piece is too graphic to be displayed on school district property.

The artwork, created by senior Pagona Kytzidis, is of a topless woman pointing out both of her middle fingers.

Philly Voice reports that parents of students in the district say that the image does not belong at school.

"I just think it's inappropriate," parent Rebecca Anderson told Philly Voice. "It's profanity. It wouldn't be allowed on television, but it's hanging in a high school?"

Cheltenham recently featured a video on their Facebook page of artwork by students; Kytzidis' painting was not in the montage.

Superintendent Raymond McFall declined to comment on the issue.

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Kytzidis, who also goes by Paige K, is also a singer-songwriter who is active in the Cheltenham community, even speaking out on recent issues of violence in the district.

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Here's how Kytzidis characterized her project:

"For my concentration, I picked a theme that was personal and led a message to the greater world — the obvious choice would be feminism. The experience of being a women is undoubtedly unique to itself and full of dreams that are explained by the being of a women. I created compositions of the experiences of the woman, of being reduced to physicality, of the anxieties that plague us, of the cult of domesticity and of the sexual definition of womanhood and how these experiences affect our psyche. This drawing represents radical feminism. Inspired by the Miss America protests in the 1960s, the brazen image depicts these views and how these women changed the movement for equality."

Image via Pagona Kytzidis