Rupi Kaur: http://www.rupikaur.com/post/114451663155/period-a-photo-series-shot-by-sisters-rupi-and
I recently attended a feminist art show that included an abstract painting on a stretched canvas made entirely of the artist’s period blood. The show featured many works condemning body shaming and promoting self-love — including nude photographs, painted portraits and performance pieces — but this one clearly stood out. Thanks to many headlines promoted on social media in recent months, I had heard of other artists who incorporated menstruation into their work (like the infamous vaginal knitter) but seeing such a work in person was a completely different experience and one that inspired me to reflect on how the perception of periods have changed over time. Or, more accurately, I realized they haven’t: We still have a long way to go break down period stigma entirely.
To be fair, society has made progress. We’ve come a long way from believing truly horrible myths, like that conceiving a child while on your period causes deformities. Tampon companies have realized they don’t have to assure women they can exist normally during their time of month or employ endless euphemisms (although pad commercials that use magical blue gel as a placeholder for blood clearly haven’t gotten the message). Some have even created and use “period dolls” to teach young girls about menstruation.
Yet our society still seems to struggle with the basic fact that the vast majority of women of reproductive ages bleed every month. This stigma is well demonstrated in the common reactions to the aforementioned period art: People often call these public displays of blood “gross” and they have even been banned on social media platforms.
Perhaps worst of all, though, this stigma is embedded into our very economy: There is still a tax on our sanitary products because tampons aren’t considered necessities the way, say, men’s razors are. This leaves women paying extra for something any menstruating women will confirm is, in fact, crucial. And it’s not small cost: The Huffington Post estimated that the average woman spends $1,773.33 on tampons over the course of her reproductive life. This is just another example of why its so detrimental for the people in charge of making rules and regulations about women’s bodies to have no personal experience living in them.
Artists who use their period blood face criticism and their work considered a bold and “provocative” statement precisely because there is still so much work to be done. Regardless of one’s individual opinions about period art itself, we need to acknowledge that the artists’ intentions — to start a loud conversation about the taboos regarding our periods — are valid. Society may currently be at its peak level of evolved views about menstruation, but there is still plenty of room for progress. It’s time for society to understand that women’s periods won’t stop, and neither will we.
