To Cover or Not to Cover?

So my current painting that I am working on seems to be bringing up some strong emotions as to whether I should or shouldn't cover the eyes. Everyone that I have heard from seems to want me to keep the eyes uncovered because the painting looks so nice. The problem with this is that if I don't cover the eyes, my next series which deals with immigrants and how they have been marginalized, becomes irrelevant (at least to me). That series is supposed to bring awareness to the often forgotten memories of immigrants and share their experiences with hardship and fitting into society. Their eyes are purposely not covered. Together, with my current series, it makes a statement about how immigrant lives have been overlooked and now they are not because they get to "keep their eyes" so that you can see their emotions and empathize with them. My current series, which is mostly Caucasians, have their eyes covered and are now the "insignificant" members of society. If I don't cover the eyes of every painting in this series just because it looks nice, it no longer makes that statement. Make any sense?

With so many people wanting me to do one thing, my instincts tell me that I should do the opposite. I don't know if that is me just rebelling against what people want from me, or if it's because I want to shake things up with people and take away something they feel so strongly about. Who knows? Maybe it's neither, maybe it's both. I also feel that just because the girl I am painting is pretty and the piece looks nice, this doesn't make her more important than all of the other work in the series, thereby getting to keep her eyes unblocked. I have painted many pieces that included pretty girls whose eyes were nicely painted and even though I hated covering their eyes, I did it. Sometimes you just have to do the hard thing and so far the series hasn't suffered from it.

So what will I do? I'll probably cover the eyes and go with my gut feeling. (Sorry everyone!) I am more concerned about the bar blending too much with the shadows on her face, making it look like she has some weird mask. I don't think that will be a problem, but it is a concern.

BTW, this painting is not done. I still need to add some highlights, tighten up some dark areas, and sharpen certain parts.