In the project “Diary of an Emotional Cowgirl”, Marion explores how society shapes a person throughout adolescence to adulthood. During Thyra childhood years, she developed defense mechanisms to protect herself from a society designed for people who easily fit in.

Ever since Thyra was a child, she felt different and wanted to fit in to the boxes society has made. Stereotypical ones that says something about how you should behave to fit in: If you are a girl, lover, daughter, friend, classmate, and the list goes on. Boxes that Thyra never quite managed to fit into, and that made her feel unsuccessful and miserable, making it impossible to breathe.

To protect herself from this, she made different characters that would make her seem dangerous and out of reach to others. Making it seem that she did not want to fit in. Her clothing style became increasingly eccentric, and with strong colors and unconventional clothing choices, her style started working like an armor.

The project focuses on Thyra as a young girl as well as a grown woman. It shows her identities, both as the character she portrays to the world, and the more vulnerable person she prefers to hide. Closely related to her identities is her diagnosis with borderline personality disorder. Her emotions are constantly changing, very much like her style, and she has therefore given herself the name “emotional cowgirl”.

Like many others, Thyra is a product of body pressure and the stigma surrounding mental health. She has constantly been seeking to be the best version of herself, trying to fit in. In later years, Thyra has started asking questions about why. Why does everything need to be perfect? Why is it not good enough to be average? Why does one have to be a “good girl” in order to be accepted? From personal diary entries to family photos, one get a unique look into how the world has been a big part of shaping Thyra into the person she is today.