With a title like “Tea, ladies? Oh, and by the way ...: an artist invited women for an unusual party: the result is a collection of 52 bronze vulvas” you just can’t help but be curious. The article by Julia McKinnell, published May 21, 2007 in the Canadian journal Maclean’s, discusses the creation of Toronto artist Deb Wiles’ idea for her bronze vulvas. The idea began as Wiles was sipping tea, after she had made an impression of her own. She enrolled in to art school at the age of 37, and begain inviting friends over for tea where she would ask if they would allow her to cast their vulvas. Of course participants would cast their own, and many eventually did. The reason the vulva casts are so interesting is because the vulva is a hidden part of women’s bodies, its something you don’t look at every morning. I mean, how many women have actually seen theirs? What participants took from this was a greater understanding of their bodies as well as the beauty of others. The bronze vulvas came in a range of sizes and shapes, and as a collection each was unique and beautiful in their own differences. I think it would be amazing to have mine cast and then display it in my home, or even use it as a paperweight.
Click here to check out Wiles’ website and the bronze vulvas.
The article can be found by searching at Academic OneFile or by checking out Deb Wile's website here.
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3 years ago
3 comments:
This just may be my own weird view on this, but personally I think that these bronze vulvas are pretty gross. I know we are supposed to appreciate and find beauty in our ladyness, but I just do not like looking at these. I would not want a molding of mine or anyone else's. I know many of you will scoff at me, but I just don't find it beautiful. Is that wrong of me? I find myself feeling guilty for not loving them, and I do appreciate the art and the beauty other women see in it, but this just isn't for me.
When I first looked at the pictures I was a little turned off by them, I thought that they were gross. But the more I looked at them and after I read what she had to say I began to like the sculptures. The article said, “this project is an investigation into the shame about our bodies and our sexualities that we are socialized to feel.” That line really stuck out to me. I think that it is awesome that women did this. I wouldn’t be comfortable casting my vulva in bronze and then letting everyone see it. I really enjoyed this post.
i don't think it's wrong to be grossed out at all. i mean, i could say it's our patriarchal culture pressuring us to believe vulvas are gross and that's why you think that, but i dont necessarily think that's true. I personally don't think penises are that nice to look at. Maybe it's just me, but i don't find genitalia that beautiful. But like you said, I appreciate the art and beauty other women see in it, and I love that someone said, hey dude, let's make vulva molds. But yeah, it's not something i want to see everyday.
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