These cakes are a cheeky critique on the expected politeness of the femme experience. As someone who was socialized as a woman in our society, there were many roles and responsibilities that were appointed to me specifically related to my assigned gender, many of which include unspoken domestic and emotional labor— and all of which require servitude with a smile.

I was raised in the rural Midwest, a majority of my time at my grandmother’s small town family restaurant. I find so many parallels between her business as a restaurant owner and mine as an artist. I owe everything I know about honesty, empathy, service, and work ethic to her.