Written by:
Gina DeVries
Photographer:
Jill Posener
Painting Herself Free
Why don't you ever wear a dress? These words echoed throughout Daphne Scholinski's childhood, taunting her with the constant reminder that she was not like other girls. At age 14, doctors diagnosed Scholinski with Gender Identity Disorder (GID), an "illness: characterized by the failure to demonstrate behavior "appropriate to one's sex." She spent most of her teenage years (1980-1984) in a mental hospital, undergoing treatment for her so-called gender confusion.
Today, Scholinski, 31, has started to speak out about the abuse she suffered at the hands of the psychiatric establishment. Her book The Last Time I Wore a Dress reveals how doctors commanded her to "experiment with makeup," to "comb and curl her hair" and to "dress more like a girl."
Scholinski turned to painting as a way to purge the desperation, fear and anxiety she experienced while institutionalized. Some of her potent images (including the one depicted here) are now part of an exhibition touring the United States.
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