It’s always been clear to me, and I’m sure most other people with vaginas will relate, that our bodies are not something to discuss. The amount of shame most girls have around their periods is so immense. Most girls will go to almost any length to avoid people seeing them with a pad or tampon.
Contrast this with a society that seems obsessed with penises. I remember middle school seeing them everywhere. They were something funny you would write on your friend’s homework or on the whiteboard.
Being about to laugh about something is the first step in normalizing the thing. The massive disparity in what is okay to laugh about only fuels the alienation people with vaginas have with their bodies.
The stigma around periods and vaginal/uterine health is not without its costs. Over the summer, I spoke to a mother who was in tears because her daughter bled for almost two months straight without telling anyone. Her mother was wrought with guilt after having drilled into her daughter’s mind that what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom. She told me that despite having said this, she never meant for her daughter to hide something serious.
Over the summer, I worked with No More Secrets, MBS. at the SPOT. Period. The SPOT. Period is the nation’s 1st Menstrual Hub and Uterine Wellness Center located in Germantown Philadelphia, PA. Its mission is to decrease uterine care and menstrual health disparities in underserved communities through the eradication of societal stigmas and the propagation of resources and scientifically based information.
Strawberry. Acrylic on canvas.
The painting is suggestive in nature. A vagina, even under the metaphorical disguise of a fruit, is not in good enough taste to display. This is why it is blurred. The pixels serve to represent the curtains we hide behind.
Grapefruit. Acrylic on canvas.
This painting is meant to serve as almost the antithesis of Strawberry. It is showing vulva in full view with the blood rushing out in an almost passionate fervor.
I love placing light-hearted moments in a dark and moody setting. Both of the next pieces portray funny pictures reconceptualized as renaissance paintings.
Homophobia (commit to the bit) Digital print.
This artwork is a translation of a photo taken at the Nu (the medical frat house). The context of the painting would prove that the person in the back was not contemplating a hate crime. He was being judgemental, certainly, but not for the reasons the photo at face value would suggest.
Vampire cat. Digital print.
We took a funny photo of my cat mid-yawn. Her little canines really looked like fangs to me, so I played it out.
Alicia Selvera is an MS2 at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Images also by Alicia Selvera.
