In the Loge (1878, MFA Boston) depicts a woman scanning the theatre audience with her opera glasses. As the FT review of the exhibition explains,"Rather than preen distractedly, as social mores would dictate, she scrutinises society, shielded by temporary anonymity...[and] presents herself not as object but as objectifier." In the background, though, you can just make out a man on a facing balcony, with his own opera glasses fixed on her. In many ways, the painting encapsulates Mary Cassatt's own professional independence and her insistence on overcoming gender stereotypes and expectations.