Unconquered Peaks

Masculinity is more common than mud in the working world. Not only are nearly 90% of CEOs and executive directors men, but women with ‘masculine’ traits and styles of work have been proven more likely to succeed in an environment otherwise dominated by men. Margaret Thatcher, for example, had professional voice coaching to lower her voice to a more ‘masculine’ level in order to seem more authoritative and respectable. This logic, unfortunately, carries through to work attire. The most common outfit worn by women in corporate environments usually involves a shirt and blazer, traditionally paired with a skirt, heels and makeup. While the latter components are becoming rarer as forcing traditional and inconvenient ‘femininity’ onto women is becoming less accepted, the classic collared blouse and jacket combination shows no sign of decline.

For as long as we can remember, humans have held a grim fascination for the gory, the gruesome and the grisly – and stories about this have long since enchanted us, whether the local gossip around the latest public execution in the 14th centuries, to the world’s most famous unsolved serial killer Jack the Ripper, to the excellent entertainment that is Buzzfeed Unsolved. But why do humans hold this illogical desire to hear the crimes about our fellow man? And why, in the last half decade has it exploded, enjoying previously unseen popularity?

The destruction of art is as much a part of art history as its creation. From the Roman times to the present-day, people have felt the need to destroy it, often justified by religion, politics, power, and morality. The toppling of statues, the erasure of portraits or the destruction of images reveal what it is that people value in art and why it matters enough to be worth attacking.