Two Women combines intimacy and distance to foreground the problematic of desire and mass media. Pearlstein juxtaposes a live performer with the photograph of a human figure cut from a magazine and dangled in front of the video camera. Tension is generated by the interaction between the static photo of a nude woman, and a man who paces restlessly in the background, shooting glances at the cut-out. The soundtrack contrasts Pearlstein's voiceover of coaxing directions, with responsive moans and sighs simulated by sound effects; the viewer must synthesize these various registers of significance into what is a provocative testament to the power of the image.