After looking at the work in Ebbe & Blut and Leeaya Aikawa I wanted to try out creating some collages of women from the 50’s sitting on objects which leak. I chose a ladel of sauce, a red candle, a pot of paint and an icream with strawberry sauce. I wanted to make sure there was a variety of objects not just food to enhance the idea that alot of things leak not just women. I feel the outcomes are particularly successful and also convey a playful look as seen in both Ebbe & Blut and Leeaya Aikawa’s work. I really like the way the women of the 50’s contrast with the idea of visibly bleeding as this is something which would have been extremely frowned upon back then. After trying out different colours for the backgrounds, I feel that a spectrum of pinks is the most affective and will flow the best within the magazine. It also adds a sense of ‘femininity whch helps enhance the females in the imagery and the fact they are of an era where it was key to be feminine.

I wanted to test out some illustrations using the shape of a sanitary towel. I tried out some linear styles and also layering the outlines up so that you almost cant tell the original shape. I feel however that they aren’t as visually eye catching i hoped them to be. I don’t quite feel they will work within the magazine layout.

THE PERFECT VAGINA is a passionate documentary about modern femininity, looking into women’s insecurities.

Women are undergoing surgery to create perfect genitalia amid a “shocking” lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says. Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology also questions the very notion of aesthetically pleasing genitals.

Operations to improve the appearance of the sex organs for both psychological and physical reasons are on the rise. But surgeons said the report overplayed the risks of an established procedure. Labioplasty, as it is known, costs about £3,000 privately and is offered for a variety of reasons: some women complain that wearing tight clothes or riding a bike is uncomfortable, while others say they are embarrassed in front of a sexual partner.

This Documentary shows a young girl, who refers to her vagina as disgusting, going through the procedure and wanting to be ‘perfect’. This idea of having a perfect vagina is something which needs to be stopped. Not enough women realise that every is different and I feel this is due to censoring of nudity in the media. Due to this censoring we only have women in porn to look at as to how we should look. This is a incorrect representation of perfect and I feel this is the sadening reason why we are seeing a huge rise since 2008 when the film was made in women wanting a designer vagina.

I want my magazine to really make women understand that we are all different particularly our vaginas and that we need to embrace ourselves with what we have.

Title for Zine:

Peach, T O T M, HooHah, Vulva

Art with Feminine Hygiene:

•Tampon flowers

•cannesten cream

•shapes with sanitary towel

Collages:

•Women sitting on food that dribbles

Create vaginas from objects:

•flower-rose squashed and as a bud

•zip

•mouth

•eye

•fish lips

•shell WITH HAIR

•Fig with bubbles

•Plastic bag

•Fabric

Illustrations of Vaginas

Stains:

•Stain of still life peaches

•Stain from red wine

•stain on the body from random objects

•stages of stain- wine on table, wine on trousers, period stain

•Berries

•Ketchup

•Lipstick

•Nail varnish

Typography:

•Words to describe your period

Articles:

•Interview with Debbie about PCOS

•Interview with my Mum??

•Mooncups- why we should use them

•Questionnaire responses

Stickers as propaganda:

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Vagina is not a dirty word

Anything you can do I can do bleeding

Tampons should be free!

I decided to do an interview with someone who has PCOS as I feel it is a medical condition which is rarely spoken about, however there is a very large percentage of women affected by it in the UK. This is the type of thing I want to highlight within the magazine, tot ry to normalize issues which people may be suffering with.

Debbie Mumford a 23 year old jeweller who was recently diagnosed

When  were you first diagnosed with PCOS and how old were you?

It was the summer between first and second year of uni so I was 20. I had a dermatologist appointment in Brighton for my skin and had travelled all the way from home for it, after talking to the doctors it concluding my bad skin was maybe due to something else. We discussed my irregular periods and they recommended I had a blood test for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. The Doctor then informed me of all the symptoms and I had a blood test straight away.

How did you feel when you found out you had it?

I was definitely very nervous and scared because it I found out unexpectedly, I remember leaving the hospital and crying on the phone to my mum.

What challenges do you face having PCOS?

I’m pretty lucky when it comes to symptoms, apart from bad acne I only have irregular periods which if anything has been a bonus for me as it means I don’t have periods very often and when I do they only last a couple of days. PCOS in general though can cause people to gain weight and have excessive hair due to higher levels of male hormones. The main issue with polycystic ovaries is its effect on fertility due to intermittent or failure to ovulate. PCOS can’t be cured however the symptoms can be treated if they become an issue.

Were you educated on what it was prior to getting it?

I had no idea about it at all before my dermatologist appointment, and even then they just scared me with the information they told me that day. Considering it affects 1 in 10 women I feel like its not very well known.

What support have you received?

After my doctors appointment when I got the results of the first blood test they gave me a print out of information on it, but other than that I learnt about it online. It has been quite confusing when talking to different doctors about it because they have given me conflicting information regarding the contraceptive pill.

Do you feel you are able to talk about PCOS openly?

With most people I am if it comes up in conversation but its not something i’d bring up out of the blue.

What advice would you share with someone with PCOS?

I’d definitely advise someone who thinks they may have it to be checked but when it comes down to it, as it can’t be cured it’s not worth worrying too much about. Most women with PCOS are able to get pregnant whether its naturally or with treatment. So only worth worrying about when pregnancy is something you’re beginning to think about.

“GIRLS SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPLORE THEIR SEXUALITY WITHOUT BEING SEXUALISED.”

 

Petra Collins work is extremely effective in getting across a sense of what it means to be a modern woman, without being sexualised. This is what I hope to convey within my magazine in order for it to be effective with both men and women. I love the style of her images as they have a soft element to them mimicking that of the body and the skin. Her book Babe, a collaboration of other female artist work is also interesting as it highlights visual ways in which the body and the vagina is always around us in every day life. In the top left image (from the book) there are examples of  everyday things which resemble vaginas which are by Harley Weir. I really like the idea of looking around me to see what objects I can find which resemble vaginas and then have them as a series in the magazine.

 

 

 

At the beginning of the film, Carrie has her first period while showering after a physical education class. She has no understanding of menstruation as her mother never told her about it, believing it to be sin. Because of this, Carrie is convinced she is bleeding to death. Her classmates use the event as an opportunity to taunt her; led by Chris Hargensen, they throw tampons and sanitary napkins at her. When gym teacher Rita Desjardin happens upon the scene, she at first berates Carrie for her stupidity. However, she realizes that Carrie has no idea what is happening to her. In the midst of the commotion a lightbulb shatters above Carrie’s head. Miss Desjardin excuses this and helps Carrie clean up and tries to explain. Carrie’s mother shows no sympathy for her; she beats her and locks her into a “prayer closet”, insisting that her first period is a punishment for some sort of sin.

I really like the idea of creating a shoot in a bathroom or shower and showing the stages of what happens when a woman is on her period. Instead of making it gruesome and scary as is done in this film, I would like to make it into something more beautiful. I feel that it could be interesting looking at the way that the blood and water interacts when mixed in a shower or bath.

The results from my questionnaire are extremely interesting as I have found that a lot of people do feel the need to get rid of the taboo around periods, especially the males which was something that surprised me. It has also been interesting to see how the older the person the less they feel that being open about women’s health is important. I decided to have two different questionnaires for women and men as I wanted to see how much men really do know about as there is a stigma that they have no idea what a period is, However the majority f people asked ranging from early to late twenties seemed quite educated on the matter. The Female questionnaire looks at feelings and personal experience in more depth in order to highlight how women are made to feel in society. I feel it could be interesting to include some of these results in the magazine itself to show people the different views and experiences people have.

In Pina Baush’s choreography for ‘Rites of Spring’ there is a strong correlation between becoming the chosen one as is meant throughtout the piece and that of a woman starting menstraution. The way the red cloth is held and thrown around the stage mimics that of the womans period and the way in whuich our hormones are effected during menstruation. I love the contrast between the dancers nude dresses and the bright red fabric.

This also works well with the dark staging as it makes the colour more prominent. The way the lead dancer begins the piece on the floor lying on top of the cloth is extremely powerful as it could be seen as her being at one with herself and then as she begins menstraution this becomes more apparent through movement and expression.

I feel that although my interpretation is not how it is originally viewed, this could be an interesting idea for a shoot, to show the journey a woman goes through when menstrating, but in a very expressive way and using fabric/objects as a metaphor for the period.

MAGAZINE TITLE IDEAS: STAIN, THE BLEED, VULVA, PEACH

TOPICS- WHATS THE BIG DEAL WITH PERIOD SEX?

                 HOW TO TEACH MEN ABOUT PERIOD PARAPHERNALIA

                 WHAT DO MEN KNOW ABOUT PERIODS? NOT ENOUGH

Still life of what women use to help their periods- tampons,

sanitary towels, moon cup, hot water bottle, chocolate etc

Stickers as pull out as propaganda

Illustrations

catchy propaganda words  (plug it up)

typography page -words used for period