They even scare me.”3. She represents the suggested trauma de Kooning experienced and a reluctant delve into the subconscious. She represents an uncomfortable reflection of the levels of gender equality, and brings up issues of masculinity and inferiority. The “balance” of these two forces, “continuing to hold the road”, represent the consciousness of de Kooning to present to the viewer a “finished product”, a testament to his new “understanding”, however complete that understanding is. What becomes apparent is how these works work to insulate and protect de Kooning from his own realizations. De Kooning creates a work that is, “impregnable as fortresses”, “engulfed by the wet, slippery medium of oil paint de Kooning has developed”, he has gone both on the offensive and defensive, creating a fortress for himself and his own ideas and expectations, all while creating a trap for the viewer, so that they may become entangled in the wet, slippery medium of oil paint (Figure 3) Both Sylvester and Prather describe stylistic choices that de Kooning employs in order to both protect himself in his exploration of his own self but also to find a sense of clarity in the chaos of his subconscious, actions which leave the audience with an unfinished understanding of de Kooning’s own journey. Hubert Crehan’s response to de Kooning’s third Women Series, transcends visceral responses to the aesthetic nature of the women depicted. He suggests de Kooning engaged an arduous process of self-discovery after and upheaval of his own beliefs and understandings was prompted to examine his own “place” in relation to that of the “new American woman”. What de Kooning presented as his last rendition of the Woman Series represents a stopping place in the process of self-reflection for the artist, what is still not understood was whether the artist reached a point of self satisfaction or enlightenment, something that would warrant an analysis of his later work.>