Menstrual Art and why it’s Pissing People Off

Image courtesy of 欠我兩千塊

Menstrual Art is one of my new favorite art styles. I recently discovered May Ling Su, an amazing artist and feminist who creates visual art that incorporates images and videos of her menstrual blood, her art breaks the age-old stereotype that associates menstruation with uncleanliness and treats it as a taboo. Not so surprisingly though, that’s exactly what this style of art is getting criticized for being.

Some people are arguing that this type of art is vulgar and unhygienic, that it’s merely used as a “shock factor” and a cheap ploy to get people to pay attention to the artist, but why is this considered vulgar in the first place?

When I was nineteen I went to an art exhibit where a bunch of old Victorian-era photographs of women had been ejaculated on with the male artist’s semen, framed in glass and sold for $200+ a piece. Everyone applauded the artist for taking such a daring and vulnerable risk (I’m not kidding), yet while a lot of the artists using their menstrual blood as a medium have been applauded in certain groups, there has been a lot more outrage at the fact that we would dare to show such a thing. In 2013, Canadian photographer Petra Collins designed a t-shirt for American Apparel with an illustrated vagina complete with menstrual blood that caused a bit of controversy, to which she responded later in a VICE article by saying:

"It’s really awesome. I’m not surprised. It’s exactly what I wanted because it totally proves my point… [t]hat we’re so shocked and appalled at something that’s such a natural state—and it’s funny that out of all the images everywhere, all of the sexually violent images, or disgustingly derogatory images, this is something that’s so, so shocking apparently. The graphic on my shirt is a line drawing, too. It’s not even a full-on image."

This is kind of perfect commentary on the absurdity of people getting offended about this. They’re not getting angry because it’s unhygienic or vulgar, menstrual art is about as vulgar as getting a period itself, there’s nothing dangerous or shocking about it, there are way more vulgar and dangerous art styles out there that have not received half the criticism that menstrual art has (Lolicon anyone?). People are getting angry at this because it normalizes menstruation, they dislike the power associated with taking away the stigma from something that has long been considered shameful. And I want to line my walls with those photographs.