Ste. Sebastienne
Ste. Sebastienne comes from a collection done by Louise Bourgeois in 1992, in which Bourgeois depicts various representations of Saint Sebastian in female form. Ste. Sebastienne, as with most artistic portrayals of St. Sebastian, depicts the experience of the martyr being shot with arrows. However, where the male martyr was hung upon a tree, helpless. Ste. Sebastienne steadies herself, planting her feet and refusing to move. Even as the arrows attack any weakness they can find, even with no arms and no face, she still stands, just as St. Sebastian stood for Christians even after he was shot and left for dead.
In the Christian religion, some of the first people recognized as saints, those who could intercede with God on behalf of people still on earth, were martyrs. For martyrs, the suffering they underwent before their deaths generally led not to pain, but to pleasure, as their faith assured them of their place in heaven; and their ability to withstand suffering showed their devotion to God. One of the most common martyrs depicted in art was St. Sebastian, who is identifiable due to the arrows that pierce his skin. Though Sebastian did end up a martyr, he was not killed as a result of his arrow wounds but was instead saved by God, making this typical image more about salvation and intercession rather than death.
The difference between Ste. Sebastienne and the more typical male representation of the saint goes beyond the visible biological differences; men and women perceive pain differently on a neurological level. Though the research of this concept is newer, scientist Melton wrote an article for the New Scientist in 2002 that shed some light on why the sexes' pain reactions differ. One reason seems to be sex hormones, which is why on a woman's menstrual cycle they are more susceptible to pain. However, when progesterone levels rise during pregnancy women are able to tolerate far more pain than men. It was also noted in the same article that women "process pain more in a part of the brain concerned with attention and emotion" (Melton, 2002). With this knowledge and knowing how effective distraction can be into tricking the neuromatrix into not registering the extent of pain being applied, and can even turn it into a pleasurable experience, it can be concluded that the figure in Ste. Sebastienne is more equipped to focus on the sanctity of her journey to sainthood, and therefore better able to distract herself from the pain than the male representations are.