Art depicting Menstruation: A Perspective
“Art is not what you see, it’s what you make others see.”
Georgia O’Keeffe described art that lucidly. Encompassing various forms and types, art holds the power to carry messages from by-gone eras-a catalyst in destigmatising stigmas and potentially propagating societal acceptance. Literature, paintings, cinema, sculptures, music and other performing arts all are part and parcel of the umbrella term ‘art’, which makes it a prolific vehicle for change. Given the capacity art in all its forms has to fuel movements and shatter boundaries, naturally, the usage of art as a medium to depict menstruation in all its glory comes as no surprise.
In 1971, Judy Chicago created an artwork depicting a person extracting a bloodied tampon from the waist down. This was followed by some more notable instances of artists exercising their creative freedom to depict menstruation sans stigma (for example, Carolee Schneemann’s Bloodwork Diary among several other pieces). In recent times, the internet and social media platforms have been used as a tool to normalize menstruation via slam poetry and photographs (for instance, take Jen Lewis’s 2015 series-‘Beauty in Blood’). Countless canvasses have been filled using menstrual blood as a medium in recent years.
In 2010, Sarah Maple’s ‘Menstruate with Pride’ received appreciation from a large group of people but was also condemned by several others for depicting something as natural as menstruation. Anish Kapoor, in 2019, unveiled a body of work that used menstruation as one of its central themes. 2020 saw one Jasmine Alicia Carter using menstrual blood as a tool to empower menstruators. With the visibility the ‘menstrual art’ movement has gained, it has tremendously increased the usage of the word ‘menstruator’- leaps forward in the right direction. The horizons in depiction of menstruation in the most ‘conventional art sense- that is, through paintings, have thus been broadening steadily.
Several other depictions have come as welcome percolation in art that focuses on menstruation. Bodyform’s ‘Womb Stories’ captures the essence of what a period means to several people. Actor Emilia Clarke’s 2021 debut comic book features a single mom whose superpowers stem from menstruation! Comic artists have also been taking to Instagram to depict menstruation in a light hearted manner since the past couple of years.
Menstrual art in all its forms is slowly steamrolling existing notions about the period being a taboo and stigma, thus marking its presence in the bigger fight to normalise menstruation. Visual depiction of what was initially wrongly labelled by the society as a ‘hush-hush’ business has now become the commoner’s way to express the power of menstruation. Menstruators now see it as a medium to emphasize the nature of menstruation- the only form of red that is non-violent.
By appealing to human beings’ natural instinct to gravitate towards colour, menstrual art has grown into a vehicle for positive, resounding change.
References
Green-Cole R. Painting Blood: Visualizing Menstrual Blood in Art. 2020 Jul 25. In: Bobel C, Winkler IT, Fahs B, et al., editors. The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies [Internet]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. Chapter 57. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565646/ doi: 10.1007/978–981–15–0614–7_5
Hughes, B., & Standing, K. (2018, November 12). Menstrual art: why everyone should go and see it. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/menstrual-art-why-everyone-should-go-and-see-it-105778
Quint, C. (2019, January 1). Menstrual Art: What It Is? Why It Is Important? Https://Www.Outlookindia.Com/. https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/society-news-its-bloody-art-isnt-it/301034
Quint, C. (2019, January 1). Menstrual Art: What It Is? Why It Is Important? Https://Www.Outlookindia.Com/. https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/society-news-its-bloody-art-isnt-it/301034
~ L. Srimathi
