Akvilė Kavaliauskaitė. What feelings come to you when you look at a girl’s face smeared with menstrual blood? | Culture

I found about what I expected – suggestions for drinking period blood, smearing with feces, etc. Some complained that the image hurt their eyes and ironically asked what drugs the girl was taking. The writer Vaiva Rykštaitė was the only one who defended the girl, saying that such extreme images push the limits little by little and that strangers’ periods do not seem so terrible.

I had no doubt that this photo would cause a scandal. After all, all the ingredients are there: a shocking image, resistance, something primal and something mystical. I thought there wouldn’t be a single influencer who wouldn’t talk about it, and there wouldn’t be a single portal that wouldn’t write about it.

But none wrote. Probably because it is difficult to formulate an extreme opinion on such a topic. Does the girl look stupid? For me, yes. Does she have the right to smear herself with menstrual blood and take pictures? Of course. Has anyone been hurt? No. Did he deserve such ridicule and insults? Let’s stop here.

The author’s supporters attacked Ben for criticizing the photo with such terrible words that I can’t even quote them. I was surprised here too. It is naive to expect that you will not get negative reactions after smearing your face with menstrual blood. Any act that breaks social norms is accompanied by resistance. Whether you’re breastfeeding a five-year-old, chewing on a corpse’s nails, or hanging upside down with a carrot up your ass, people won’t be lining up to pat you on the head. You rail against the culture of bullying and then bully yourself. It looks bad.

But the most important thing is what meaning is encoded in the shocking image and what message is being sent.

Images of women smearing menstrual blood on their faces instead of beauty masks have been circulating in the West for several years. Dermatologists say that this not only does not promote beauty, but also damages the skin and can cause inflammation. But since when did conspiracy theorists care about the opinions of experts? Apply as if applied.

In some women’s circles, menstrual blood is a symbol of their power, displayed publicly as a resistance to the patriarchy. Just like the heroine from Ben Lastauskas’s recording, they give mystical properties to menstruation: it is the power of the female spirit, creative energy and, of course, the beginning of life. Menstrual blood is included in rituals or even used in the household – for example, to fertilize plants. This approach is not new. In Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt or India, menstruation was associated with the divine powers of a woman, and in some American Indian tribes, bleeding women were separated from others, thus honoring their spiritual strength.

So, it seems important to separate the misinformation here (period blood instead of L’Oreal), ritual (which is fine as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone), and social activism, which aims to draw attention to societal ills and normalize biologically mundane things like menstruation through edgy imagery. The latter two are often intertwined, although sometimes they contradict each other. For example, women fighting for the normalization of women’s biological processes do not necessarily admire spirits dancing in circles around menstrual blood, because they want to talk about science, not all kinds of Ugačiaka.

I haven’t met a single woman who likes her period. Not one has yet said they enjoy period pains and the sight of used tampons. Well, they raised us not quite right. From my teenage years, I remember the advice printed in a magazine that it is better to dress in several layers during periods – if you stain your pants, you can tie a sweater around your hips. Great advice! It’s important that no one sees, and how you feel walking around with caked blood between your legs is up to you. Nothing looked more horrible and disgusting than menstrual blood soaked through a cloth. It seemed like one drop would be enough to burn you at the stake.

Now no one is ashamed to buy pads, to say that they feel bad, etc. The most obvious change is reflected when menstruation is discussed at the state level. For example, Spain has legalized a few days of paid leave, which is granted after receiving a doctor’s note about painful periods.

For this, we must also be grateful to the first women who fought for the normalization of women’s biological processes. They started creating art using the same menstrual blood half a century ago. The first, most prominent and still influential is the American artist, feminist and educator Judy Chicago. in 1971 she presented the first work of art in the West depicting menstruation— Red Flag. The photo shows a woman pulling out a used tampon from her vagina. By the way, you can buy the piece even today for 35 thousand. US dollars.

The works of feminist artists only grew bolder. I will mention a few. French Ingrid Berthon-Moine in 2009. presented a series of photographs Red is the Colour. These are portraits of women covered in menstrual blood instead of lipstick. The American Jen Lewis, who poured the contents of her menstrual cup down the toilet, saw the beauty that she conveys in the works from the series Beauty in Blood. Check them out – they’re actually pretty. Such works draw attention, maybe shock, but ultimately, as Vaiva Rykštaitė also wrote, they push the limits.

Of course, not every menstrual smear can be considered art, and not every blood-stained face says something meaningful. That person is also given a brain to reason, debate and doubt.

Several women who spoke ethically about the girl’s photo did not see any meaning in the image: it’s all right with periods, but putting them on your face is simply stupid, because there is nothing to protest against. Maybe in the current era of political correctness, that’s bravery – to say that something looks stupid and justify your opinion? I’m not making a claim here, but honestly asking. Because it doesn’t seem to me either that that photo somehow contributed to the normalization of periods.

As I understand what message the girl was sending: that everyone who is bleeding now is not alone, that they should feel togetherness and support. It doesn’t sound like anything particularly stupid, but it smacks of feigned spirituality and attention-seeking. Of course, everything we post on social networks is a demand for attention, but if you already use extreme images, then continue talking, discuss, and not attack everyone who criticized you. So, in the end, it turned out that there was no important message, no dialogue.

But what I really liked about the girl’s photo is the fact that our society is becoming more and more colorful. That everyone can find a circle of supporters and engage in all sorts of oddities together, which will not cause indignation to most of the people around them, but only a friendly smile.