Bad blood or bloody ridiculous
Upon receiving the brief for the ISTD project, I found myself met with nervousness and confusion. It was an extensive brief that required a lot of attention to detail that would be a challenge to pull off.
The brief of taboo caught my attention. I enjoy controversial subjects and the sensitive nature as well as making a statement. Brainstorming started off with the taboo of tattoos, why people get them and the story of tattoos. I also thought of the taboo of missing persons, which proved to not be a very concrete taboo. I thought of taboo of the paranormal which I am heavily interested in as well as the taboo of mental illness such as schizophrenia. Things got very interesting once the class as well as the lecturers got involves with mentions of the seven deadly sins, tinder taboos, the bible and the old testament verses. Eventually the topics of fertility and sex taboos were brought up and my lecturer bounced off the idea of menstrual taboos from there. She was adamant and strongly suggested I should explore the idea. Initially reluctant, I started out my research and found myself immersed with interest over the taboo of menstruation. Slowly but surely I became passionate as I went further into research about the taboo of menstruation. Fourth wave feminism and the works of Judy Chicago inspired me, while misogynist views and the bible chapter of Leviticus with its reference to the uncleanness of women angered me.
I realised I wished to make a statement with this project. To break society’s constructed, preconceived idea that a woman’s menstrual cycle is deemed dirty, unclean and unmentionable. Overcoming menstrual taboo is a point of contention among feminists. Menstrual activism as described by Wikipedia or also known as radical menstruation, menstrual anarchy or menarchy is a movement that confronts and addresses menstrual taboos. The main argument is that if menstruation is normal, there is no reason why the topic should be avoided. After a while it becomes psychologically disorienting for women to look at a world where our reality does not exist or is hidden.
Menstruation appears to hold a certain stigma that both reflects and reinforces women’s perceived lower status in relation to men. A negative attitude has been adopted towards women’s bodily functions because; menstrual blood has been viewed as an abomination of the body. Thu, this reflects a gendered identity among women, leading to negative consequences for a woman’s psychological and sexual well-being.
I have created an A5 booklet aimed at a target audience of women, feminists and pro women’s rights activists aged 20 – 50 women who know what menstruation is and suffer at the hands of the stigma. Specifically, women aged 20- 30 are still in their years where they are finding themselves they are of child – bearing age and my aim here is to open their minds with regard to menstruation and communicate to them that it is a divine and serene process and not to be ashamed of. This is important because these same women can set the stage for changing the attitudes and ideas of generation. The information they pass on to their daughters will either strengthen the taboo or break t down. Through this booklet aimed at these women I aim to use it as a tool to break down the taboo. The target market also includes typographic designers of the ISTD.
The booklet has been considered over a period of 7 weeks. The final outcome resulted in a book that contains an anti period half illustrating the taboo and a pro period half, which illustrates the beauty of this bodily function. The pro period side has been illustrated in black and a dull colour as well as fading greys while the pro period side has been illustrated in vibrant reds and oinks. The booklet is 28 pages long – 28 days in the month of February, February being selected as it is regarded a feminine month as well as the month of love. The phases of the moon have been illustrated from the 1st (page 1) to the 28th (page 28) as the moon is inked to womanly energy and the theory of blood moons. On alternating pages there is a calendar depicting the menstrual cycle as the lining of the womb builds up and sheds (when menstruation begins). On a semi-transparent overlay in the pro-period half of the book, there is a euphemism for menstruation, which alternates with the date being on the semi-transparent paper on the anti-period half of the book. The centre double page spread in the middle of the book (page 14 – page 15) serves as the turning point of the book where the truth about menstruation is revealed. This has been printed on textured paper to mimic the texture of a sanitary pad.
I want to leave the viewer of this publication with a lasting impression. That blood is indeed a beautiful, divine, natural, womanly cycle that sustains life.
There is beauty in blood.
