Hi. Welcome to the blog for my IB English B class at Jur Hronec High School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Below you will find links to other websites and discussion questions. My students are required to comment on one of these postings every month and also respond to each other's comments. Feel free to add your two bits, but be aware that all comments are monitored before being posted.
Monday, January 7, 2019
"The period period” or “It's bloody art” -- no way I can top these titles…
Is menstruation
a taboo topic in Slovakia as it is in India?Is this merely being discrete or can silence about periods cause shame
or even harm?Is art the answer (or one
of them)?
I don't think anyone really enjoys seriously talking about menstruation (or any bodily excretion), but India seems to take it to another level. From my experience, even though nobody wants to talk about it, the topic of menstruation is far less of a taboo in Slovakia. In India, there seems to be a certain degree of shame associated with menstruation, since shop clerks quickly bag sanitary pads so they can't be seen, and young girls stay out of school during their time of the month. This is an unhealthy attitude because it makes women, especially young girls, embarrassed about a natural process that they can't control, and it lowers their self-esteem. In Slovakia, people at least understand that it's a natural cycle, we have hygienic ways of dealing with it, and people don't make such a fuss about it.
Using menstrual blood to paint is an extreme response to an equally extreme public attitude towards menstruation. To be honest, I find it quite disgusting. I'm sure there are better ways to reduce the taboo-ness of menstruation in India using art. It's not much different than if someone started painting with feces to make defecation a more socially acceptable topic. It's just unsanitary.
India has a confusing attitude towards bodily excretion. Women are shamed for menstruation, yet they annually worship the "menstruating goddess" and have some of the highest rates of open (public) defecation in the world.
Michal, I do agree with your comment about people still not enjoying talking about any kind of body fluids. In some countries like India for example, it is more extreme than in others. This could be also seen on the examples of approach towards hygienic products. I also like your point about it being an “unhealthy attitude” because honestly, the amount of shame the society is letting a girl feel when on her period is enormously absurd in India. It is a process she can’t control and didn’t really choose to undergo. Then why does she have to stay out of school and remain hush about it even to her closest relatives?
I also agree with Michal about the topic of menstrual art. It is really a little too extreme painting with real blood and also quite unsanitary. However, sometimes serious issues aren’t given enough attention in a society, and therefore no other approach than a truly extreme one seems to work. The blood in the artwork could be easily replaced with some red paint, but this wouldn’t really serve the same purpose. The reason why this artwork was given attention and caused such a “halo” around it, is because real blood was used, which had to make people remain shocked.
Menstruation is a taboo in Slovakia, but not as much as in India. However, in my opinion, it is for the preconceived notions people have about menstruation that make it more or less a taboo. As Sara Hussain mentioned " there are still well-to-do and educated households where a girl's menstruation is hushed up". When even our closest family avoids this topic, why would you bring it up to strangers? If a person is raised in this kind of environment, it is very likely that he is going to keep on this tradition. The problem is that most people are not used to talk about menstruation. I think that this issue can be resolved by not only talking about it, but also "period art" can indeed help some people opening up about it. The more the people get used to it, the more they feel comfortable with it.
Period art is indeed a strange way of creating art. Many people are often disgusted even by the thought of painting with a bodily fluid. However, I feel that menstruation needs to be depicted as it actually is. Every menstruation commercial there is creates an alternate image that is far from reality. Feathers flying, a woman laying on silk sheets pouring blue liquid on a sanitary pad. Forming this illusion can make women insecure when their period is the total opposite. The discussed photograph by Priyanka Paul named "Dear Pad Ads, I'll bleed like you want me to. In blue." has done a perfect job in demonstrating the hypocrisy of these commercials. To get rid of the taboo around menstruation, it needs to be depicted accurately. Period art can be disturbing for some, but it is far more effective than unrealistic commercials.
I agree that we should be able to speak about menstruation more freely and openly, but I don’t think I fully agree that it needs to be depicted in detail. I don’t think that showing all the bloody horrors of the process will cause people to speak more openly about it. I think that it could do the exact opposite and scare people and cause an outrage. I agree that women should not feel bad or ashamed about this natural process, but do we really want everybody, even strangers, to know about what’s going on with our body? I understand that in India the views on menstruation are extreme and are very taboo, but I think that in the majority of the world it’s a topic which can be discussed if it wants to be. Though I agree with the thought that it should be discussed in placed where the lack of discussion on the topic is causing health problems and illnesses.
I don't think anyone really enjoys seriously talking about menstruation (or any bodily excretion), but India seems to take it to another level. From my experience, even though nobody wants to talk about it, the topic of menstruation is far less of a taboo in Slovakia. In India, there seems to be a certain degree of shame associated with menstruation, since shop clerks quickly bag sanitary pads so they can't be seen, and young girls stay out of school during their time of the month. This is an unhealthy attitude because it makes women, especially young girls, embarrassed about a natural process that they can't control, and it lowers their self-esteem. In Slovakia, people at least understand that it's a natural cycle, we have hygienic ways of dealing with it, and people don't make such a fuss about it.
ReplyDeleteUsing menstrual blood to paint is an extreme response to an equally extreme public attitude towards menstruation. To be honest, I find it quite disgusting. I'm sure there are better ways to reduce the taboo-ness of menstruation in India using art. It's not much different than if someone started painting with feces to make defecation a more socially acceptable topic. It's just unsanitary.
India has a confusing attitude towards bodily excretion. Women are shamed for menstruation, yet they annually worship the "menstruating goddess" and have some of the highest rates of open (public) defecation in the world.
Michal, I do agree with your comment about people still not enjoying talking about any kind of body fluids. In some countries like India for example, it is more extreme than in others. This could be also seen on the examples of approach towards hygienic products. I also like your point about it being an “unhealthy attitude” because honestly, the amount of shame the society is letting a girl feel when on her period is enormously absurd in India. It is a process she can’t control and didn’t really choose to undergo. Then why does she have to stay out of school and remain hush about it even to her closest relatives?
DeleteI also agree with Michal about the topic of menstrual art. It is really a little too extreme painting with real blood and also quite unsanitary. However, sometimes serious issues aren’t given enough attention in a society, and therefore no other approach than a truly extreme one seems to work. The blood in the artwork could be easily replaced with some red paint, but this wouldn’t really serve the same purpose. The reason why this artwork was given attention and caused such a “halo” around it, is because real blood was used, which had to make people remain shocked.
Menstruation is a taboo in Slovakia, but not as much as in India. However, in my opinion, it is for the preconceived notions people have about menstruation that make it more or less a taboo. As Sara Hussain mentioned " there are still well-to-do and educated households where a girl's menstruation is hushed up". When even our closest family avoids this topic, why would you bring it up to strangers? If a person is raised in this kind of environment, it is very likely that he is going to keep on this tradition. The problem is that most people are not used to talk about menstruation. I think that this issue can be resolved by not only talking about it, but also "period art" can indeed help some people opening up about it. The more the people get used to it, the more they feel comfortable with it.
ReplyDeletePeriod art is indeed a strange way of creating art. Many people are often disgusted even by the thought of painting with a bodily fluid. However, I feel that menstruation needs to be depicted as it actually is. Every menstruation commercial there is creates an alternate image that is far from reality. Feathers flying, a woman laying on silk sheets pouring blue liquid on a sanitary pad. Forming this illusion can make women insecure when their period is the total opposite. The discussed photograph by Priyanka Paul named "Dear Pad Ads, I'll bleed like you want me to. In blue." has done a perfect job in demonstrating the hypocrisy of these commercials. To get rid of the taboo around menstruation, it needs to be depicted accurately. Period art can be disturbing for some, but it is far more effective than unrealistic commercials.
I agree that we should be able to speak about menstruation more freely and openly, but I don’t think I fully agree that it needs to be depicted in detail. I don’t think that showing all the bloody horrors of the process will cause people to speak more openly about it. I think that it could do the exact opposite and scare people and cause an outrage. I agree that women should not feel bad or ashamed about this natural process, but do we really want everybody, even strangers, to know about what’s going on with our body? I understand that in India the views on menstruation are extreme and are very taboo, but I think that in the majority of the world it’s a topic which can be discussed if it wants to be. Though I agree with the thought that it should be discussed in placed where the lack of discussion on the topic is causing health problems and illnesses.
Delete