Behind Degas’ Veil
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
I love Degas' work as an artist. It saddened and angered me when one day in January, I read a CNN article by Julia Fiore entitled, "The sordid truth behind Degas' ballet dancers." Degas painted the elegance of several graceful ballet dancers. Behind the beauty and grace was a dark underbelly. According to Fiore, these dancers were still children. The dancers brutally treated, working long hours six days per week. They were sexually exploited, "A luxuriously appointed room located behind the stage, called the foyer de la danse, was a place where the dancers would warm up before performances. But it also served as a kind of men's club, where abonnés -- wealthy male subscribers to the opera -- could conduct business, socialize and proposition the ballerinas."
The ballet dancers came from low-income families and sent part of their income home to provide for their impoverished families. The men called them "petits rats." They were petite dancers and rats because of their poor upbringing. Their rat-like impoverishment did not stop the wealthy from sexually exploiting these girls. Like so many before and after, the powerful enjoyed and rationalized their manipulation of the poor. Sadly, it became customary to abuse the petite rats because these cute little rats were viewed as less than human.
What made Degas brilliant was his subtle yet clear vision for transforming this unjust system. Degas rejected the label "Impressionist" and wanted to be viewed as a "realist." "He favored scenes of ballet dancers, laundresses, milliners, and other members from the lower echelons of Parisian society." Degas made it harder for the upper echelon of society to abuse the most vulnerable when he painted the women with such beauty and respect. The filthy and dehumanized were the rich men who manipulated and took advantage of their privilege at the expense of these young girls.
Today, pray for those who, today, remain vulnerable to abuse. Sexual exploitation is not a piece of humanities' 19th century past, but an ongoing abuse the influential lay upon the powerless. Human trafficking and other forms of violence against our young must stop. This is a call for people of faith to respond with support for the most vulnerable among us. Call upon the Holy Spirit to nurture the compassion within each one of our hearts. Like Degas, pray each one of us will bring evil to light, so sins like sexual abuse will no longer be treated as acceptable by the powerful.
