In case you're new to this week's series of blog entries, I've been talking about my honors thesis, which consisted of several watercolor paintings and a companion written artist statement.
In the first several paintings, I was using flowers (roses in particular) as a symbol for female sexuality and female genitalia. Once I had created the "hesitant" flowers (the ones with caution tape) and the "healing" flowers (the ones with bandages), I started to realize how I could use the symbolism I had established to maybe raise awareness about certain feminist issues that were weighing on me. And so I created paintings that allude to rape, sexual assault, and female genital mutilation.
Here is where using a symbol for female genitalia, instead of a depiction of an actual vulva, became very important. In my early paintings, I was dealing a lot more with the psychology of having a vagina - or, at the very least, my psychology. The roses were not physically injured, and so were "only" emotionally or mentally scarred. For those paintings, it might not have mattered if I'd chosen to use the flower symbolism or an actual vulva. (As it was, I chose the symbolism, because, as stated in previous entries, I was not too comfortable with my own sexuality and needed that "crutch" of a symbol because I wasn't ready for something explicitly graphic.) But for the paintings in the rest of my thesis, I believe in does matter.
Because I am showing physical harm - roses that are being actively assaulted, or roses that are obviously damaged from a past assault - I wanted to be very careful that I was not seeming to encourage or glorify sexual violence. It was very important to me that the viewer would be sympathetic towards the injured rose - not turned on by it. There were times, even using a flower as a stand-in for female genitalia, when I was still concerned about this, when I feared that a "beautiful" color palette would seem to beautify the act done to the rose. I hope these paintings are not interpreted in this way; I hope instead that the viewers seen the beauty in the rose itself. The rose carries the potential for strength and beauty despite the trauma that has been done to it, NOT because of the trauma it has endured.
I do this to myself sometimes. I need to remind myself not to romanticize pain. I get to thinking that in order to be a great artist or a great writer, I need to suffer - and so I hold myself back and make myself suffer. I would never hurt someone else, would never tell someone else that her life would be more beautiful, more poetic, more meaningful, if there was a bit more trauma in it. But I tell it to myself, and it's something I'm trying to work on changing. If I wouldn't allow a friend to hold those self-sabotaging beliefs, I shouldn't let myself hold them either. I should treat myself like my own friend.
Pinned for Safety is the first painting I made that showed violence actively directed toward the rose. I purchased and destroyed real flowers with safety pins, straight pins, tape, staples, and clips. I later used photographs taken while mutilating the flowers as references to create these watercolor paintings.
I wrote in my thesis: "Safety pins are everyday tools that we to hold something together with minimal damage. In this work, however, the rose petals are so fragile that the term “safety pin” becomes an oxymoron. One cannot pin a rose without damaging it, whether the intent is merely to keep the rose safe and together or to force its petals to close. I intended this to serve as a commentary on how even the best intentions can do more damage than good."
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is unfortunately seen as legitimate, beneficial, and justifiable in many parts of the world. "Like a well-intentioned attempt to hold something together with safety pins, in cultures where FGM is practiced, it is defended under the grounds that it is for the female’s own good. Reasons cited are numerous and varied, including aiding in genital cleanliness (for the sake of the woman and for her future children, who could supposedly die if they came in contact with “unclean” external female genitalia) and removing the “male” part of female genitalia – the clitoris – to create a clearer indication of a woman’s sex, which in turn is thought to enhance the female’s femininity (e.g. docility and obedience). FGM is also performed to cure females of depression, hysteria, and insanity; and to prevent sexual promiscuity and excessive masturbation by eliminating a female’s ability to experience sexual pleasure or decreasing her libido. Other reasons include proving virginity at the time of marriage to ensure an honorable union; increasing fertility; and even making the female genitalia more aesthetically pleasing. Women who undergo this procedure are told that it is done for their safety, health, social status, and virtue, but FGM 'has no health benefits and harms girls and women in many ways.'"
“In countries where it is practiced, mostly African, about two million youngsters a year can expect the knife – or the razor or a glass shard – to cut their clitoris or remove it altogether, [and] to have part of all of their labia… sewn together with catgut or thorns.” FGM can lead to urinary and reproductive tract infections (caused by obstructed flow of urine and menstrual blood), scarring, infertility, epidermal inclusion cysts, increased risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), bladder and urethra stones, kidney damage, and death from excessive bleeding. Initially, sexual intercourse is often extremely painful for women who have undergone this procedure; a second cut of their genitals often needs to be made at this time – usually performed by the sexual partner with a knife – to allow the labia majora to be opened for intercourse. This second cut can also lead to medical complications. Many women never experience sexual pleasure after FGM. Many women who have had their genitals cut experience difficulties in childbirth. All types of female genital mutilation pose an increased risk of death to the baby, with some types also increasing the risk of postpartum hemorrhage in women. Finally, because many FGM procedures are performed on young girls who are not given a choice in the matter, psychological and emotional stress is common, with comparable symptoms to post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have spoken out against the practice of FGM.
(If you want references for any of that above information, there is a wealth of research cited in the thesis this is pulled from, and you can check there.)
Likewise, the rose in Pinned for Safety is clearly harmed by attempts to pin it shut. The flower petals have started to tear, and the pile of petals in the background suggests that the pins will eventually destroy the flower, rather than protect it.
Of course, FGM is not something that is generally practiced in Western countries, so much of my audience probably doesn't know a lot about the procedure and would not immediately think of FGM as a way of interpreting my paintings. But sexual violence toward women is not limited to FGM. In this second violent painting, Stabbed, I held two roses shut with straight pins, which were more effective than safety pins in keeping them closed. Also, as I added in my thesis, "the straight pins lent themselves more easily to stabbing the flowers. Because they did not have to be held in place by safety pin latches, they could penetrate into the roses in a quicker, jerkier fashion." This painting, therefore, seems less like an invasive (yet careful) surgery, and more like rape or sexual assault - a problem that is, unlike FGM, prevalent throughout the entire world.
From my thesis: "Statistics show that one out of every three or four women experience sexual violence, so it is likely that everyone knows someone who has experienced sexual trauma or rape. Most often a woman is raped or assaulted by someone she knows (such as a significant other, relative, neighbor, or adult in a position of authority), but these 'acquaintance rapes' are very rarely reported. The National Organization of Women estimates that every year 1.2 million women are forcibly raped by their current or former male partners, some more than once. Similarly, a Ms. magazine survey in 1994 found that eighty-four percent of those raped knew their attacker. According to this data then, acquaintance rape and date rape are more common than left-handedness, heart attacks, and alcoholism. Women are taught to be wary of strangers and avoid walking alone at night, but these strategies do not take into account the reality of the majority of rape situations. By showing how easily flowers are torn and damaged with safety pins, I am trying to raise awareness of the alarming frequency of sexual assault and rape."
(Once again, if you want references for any of that above information, there is a wealth of research cited in the thesis this is pulled from, and you can check there.)
Now, rape is being talked about a lot on social media, and even on the news. But when I made this painting in early 2010, there weren't activists carrying their mattresses around campuses. I didn't see nearly as much discussion about rape statistics in 2010 as I do today - and maybe that's partly because I wasn't yet on Twitter following feminist accounts, and was still living a sheltered college student's life, not watching much news or generally staying abreast with the goings on of the world - but I don't think that adequately accounts for the huge jump in discussion I've seen in the last few years. I think we've gotten better about talking about some of this stuff. I hope I'm right; I hope we have.
When I showed these two paintings at an event at Eastern Michigan University in 2010 next to a display of rape and sexual assault statistics, there were several people who seemed shocked at the numbers. Many men would stop reading my artist statement, would stop looking at my watercolor paintings, as soon as they realized that I was talking about female genitalia, but there were some men who not only kept reading, but engaged me in conversation. One such man listened to everything I had to say, read my statistics, and left - only to return an hour or so later, as the event was wrapping up, to tell me he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd learned. He told me he had two daughters, both in high school or college. He said he'd never thought about it before, how likely they were to experience rape or sexual assault in their lifetimes. Given the 1 in 4 statistic listed above, he has a 50% chance that at least one of his daughters will be raped or sexually assaulted.
Chances are that we all know someone who has been raped, or is the victim of attempted rape. I know for a fact that I know a few such people - and those are only the women who have told me. It's awful to think about, that something so horrible could still be so common.
But no, we've reached gender equality. Give me a break.
Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for others in this thesis series! (I have these particular two currently hanging in my dining room, but the rest of this series is available for purchase on Etsy.)
In the first several paintings, I was using flowers (roses in particular) as a symbol for female sexuality and female genitalia. Once I had created the "hesitant" flowers (the ones with caution tape) and the "healing" flowers (the ones with bandages), I started to realize how I could use the symbolism I had established to maybe raise awareness about certain feminist issues that were weighing on me. And so I created paintings that allude to rape, sexual assault, and female genital mutilation.
Here is where using a symbol for female genitalia, instead of a depiction of an actual vulva, became very important. In my early paintings, I was dealing a lot more with the psychology of having a vagina - or, at the very least, my psychology. The roses were not physically injured, and so were "only" emotionally or mentally scarred. For those paintings, it might not have mattered if I'd chosen to use the flower symbolism or an actual vulva. (As it was, I chose the symbolism, because, as stated in previous entries, I was not too comfortable with my own sexuality and needed that "crutch" of a symbol because I wasn't ready for something explicitly graphic.) But for the paintings in the rest of my thesis, I believe in does matter.
Because I am showing physical harm - roses that are being actively assaulted, or roses that are obviously damaged from a past assault - I wanted to be very careful that I was not seeming to encourage or glorify sexual violence. It was very important to me that the viewer would be sympathetic towards the injured rose - not turned on by it. There were times, even using a flower as a stand-in for female genitalia, when I was still concerned about this, when I feared that a "beautiful" color palette would seem to beautify the act done to the rose. I hope these paintings are not interpreted in this way; I hope instead that the viewers seen the beauty in the rose itself. The rose carries the potential for strength and beauty despite the trauma that has been done to it, NOT because of the trauma it has endured.
I do this to myself sometimes. I need to remind myself not to romanticize pain. I get to thinking that in order to be a great artist or a great writer, I need to suffer - and so I hold myself back and make myself suffer. I would never hurt someone else, would never tell someone else that her life would be more beautiful, more poetic, more meaningful, if there was a bit more trauma in it. But I tell it to myself, and it's something I'm trying to work on changing. If I wouldn't allow a friend to hold those self-sabotaging beliefs, I shouldn't let myself hold them either. I should treat myself like my own friend.
 |
| "Pinned for Safety" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 20"x22" |
Pinned for Safety is the first painting I made that showed violence actively directed toward the rose. I purchased and destroyed real flowers with safety pins, straight pins, tape, staples, and clips. I later used photographs taken while mutilating the flowers as references to create these watercolor paintings.
I wrote in my thesis: "Safety pins are everyday tools that we to hold something together with minimal damage. In this work, however, the rose petals are so fragile that the term “safety pin” becomes an oxymoron. One cannot pin a rose without damaging it, whether the intent is merely to keep the rose safe and together or to force its petals to close. I intended this to serve as a commentary on how even the best intentions can do more damage than good."
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is unfortunately seen as legitimate, beneficial, and justifiable in many parts of the world. "Like a well-intentioned attempt to hold something together with safety pins, in cultures where FGM is practiced, it is defended under the grounds that it is for the female’s own good. Reasons cited are numerous and varied, including aiding in genital cleanliness (for the sake of the woman and for her future children, who could supposedly die if they came in contact with “unclean” external female genitalia) and removing the “male” part of female genitalia – the clitoris – to create a clearer indication of a woman’s sex, which in turn is thought to enhance the female’s femininity (e.g. docility and obedience). FGM is also performed to cure females of depression, hysteria, and insanity; and to prevent sexual promiscuity and excessive masturbation by eliminating a female’s ability to experience sexual pleasure or decreasing her libido. Other reasons include proving virginity at the time of marriage to ensure an honorable union; increasing fertility; and even making the female genitalia more aesthetically pleasing. Women who undergo this procedure are told that it is done for their safety, health, social status, and virtue, but FGM 'has no health benefits and harms girls and women in many ways.'"
“In countries where it is practiced, mostly African, about two million youngsters a year can expect the knife – or the razor or a glass shard – to cut their clitoris or remove it altogether, [and] to have part of all of their labia… sewn together with catgut or thorns.” FGM can lead to urinary and reproductive tract infections (caused by obstructed flow of urine and menstrual blood), scarring, infertility, epidermal inclusion cysts, increased risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), bladder and urethra stones, kidney damage, and death from excessive bleeding. Initially, sexual intercourse is often extremely painful for women who have undergone this procedure; a second cut of their genitals often needs to be made at this time – usually performed by the sexual partner with a knife – to allow the labia majora to be opened for intercourse. This second cut can also lead to medical complications. Many women never experience sexual pleasure after FGM. Many women who have had their genitals cut experience difficulties in childbirth. All types of female genital mutilation pose an increased risk of death to the baby, with some types also increasing the risk of postpartum hemorrhage in women. Finally, because many FGM procedures are performed on young girls who are not given a choice in the matter, psychological and emotional stress is common, with comparable symptoms to post-traumatic stress disorder. Since 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have spoken out against the practice of FGM.
(If you want references for any of that above information, there is a wealth of research cited in the thesis this is pulled from, and you can check there.)
Likewise, the rose in Pinned for Safety is clearly harmed by attempts to pin it shut. The flower petals have started to tear, and the pile of petals in the background suggests that the pins will eventually destroy the flower, rather than protect it.
 |
| "Stabbed" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 20"x22" |
Of course, FGM is not something that is generally practiced in Western countries, so much of my audience probably doesn't know a lot about the procedure and would not immediately think of FGM as a way of interpreting my paintings. But sexual violence toward women is not limited to FGM. In this second violent painting, Stabbed, I held two roses shut with straight pins, which were more effective than safety pins in keeping them closed. Also, as I added in my thesis, "the straight pins lent themselves more easily to stabbing the flowers. Because they did not have to be held in place by safety pin latches, they could penetrate into the roses in a quicker, jerkier fashion." This painting, therefore, seems less like an invasive (yet careful) surgery, and more like rape or sexual assault - a problem that is, unlike FGM, prevalent throughout the entire world.
From my thesis: "Statistics show that one out of every three or four women experience sexual violence, so it is likely that everyone knows someone who has experienced sexual trauma or rape. Most often a woman is raped or assaulted by someone she knows (such as a significant other, relative, neighbor, or adult in a position of authority), but these 'acquaintance rapes' are very rarely reported. The National Organization of Women estimates that every year 1.2 million women are forcibly raped by their current or former male partners, some more than once. Similarly, a Ms. magazine survey in 1994 found that eighty-four percent of those raped knew their attacker. According to this data then, acquaintance rape and date rape are more common than left-handedness, heart attacks, and alcoholism. Women are taught to be wary of strangers and avoid walking alone at night, but these strategies do not take into account the reality of the majority of rape situations. By showing how easily flowers are torn and damaged with safety pins, I am trying to raise awareness of the alarming frequency of sexual assault and rape."
(Once again, if you want references for any of that above information, there is a wealth of research cited in the thesis this is pulled from, and you can check there.)
Now, rape is being talked about a lot on social media, and even on the news. But when I made this painting in early 2010, there weren't activists carrying their mattresses around campuses. I didn't see nearly as much discussion about rape statistics in 2010 as I do today - and maybe that's partly because I wasn't yet on Twitter following feminist accounts, and was still living a sheltered college student's life, not watching much news or generally staying abreast with the goings on of the world - but I don't think that adequately accounts for the huge jump in discussion I've seen in the last few years. I think we've gotten better about talking about some of this stuff. I hope I'm right; I hope we have.
When I showed these two paintings at an event at Eastern Michigan University in 2010 next to a display of rape and sexual assault statistics, there were several people who seemed shocked at the numbers. Many men would stop reading my artist statement, would stop looking at my watercolor paintings, as soon as they realized that I was talking about female genitalia, but there were some men who not only kept reading, but engaged me in conversation. One such man listened to everything I had to say, read my statistics, and left - only to return an hour or so later, as the event was wrapping up, to tell me he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd learned. He told me he had two daughters, both in high school or college. He said he'd never thought about it before, how likely they were to experience rape or sexual assault in their lifetimes. Given the 1 in 4 statistic listed above, he has a 50% chance that at least one of his daughters will be raped or sexually assaulted.
Chances are that we all know someone who has been raped, or is the victim of attempted rape. I know for a fact that I know a few such people - and those are only the women who have told me. It's awful to think about, that something so horrible could still be so common.
But no, we've reached gender equality. Give me a break.
Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for others in this thesis series! (I have these particular two currently hanging in my dining room, but the rest of this series is available for purchase on Etsy.)
Visual literacy and image reading: Very interesting art work, and analysis: Subject well covered, a receptive audience, and detailed perspectives!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment! I appreciate your kind words. :)
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