This feminist is putting anti-sexism messages on sanitary towels – and she's calling for men and women to join the cause
Last year, Twitter user @cutequeer96 asked a simple question: "What if men were as disgusted with rape as they are by periods"? The viral tweet has gone on to inspire a global conversation about rape culture and attitudes about women. In Karlsruhe, a city in southwest Germany, it's also inspired a pretty interesting project: maxi pad protest art.
German artist Elonë has been sticking up sanitary towels all over her home city, repeating @cutequeer96's message and other statements like "rapists rape people not outfits", "my pussy my choice" and "my name is not baby".
imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they are with periods
— #StayStrongLeah (@cutequeer96) September 29, 2014
Elonë's message has spread across the world since her original images exploded online – there's been a huge response on Tumblr, where people have headed to either give her a lot of shit or show her support.
"There were some haters that called me manhating or something, but I'm not!" she tells Dazed. "Feminism means equality for me! I'm not reading everything [online] because I didn't do this for fame or stuff, I just did it to provoke and make [people] aware that sexism is a daily problem!"
She says that she's stuck up 40 maxi pads in total around her city, but she is thinking of expanding the project. "I will take it a bit secretly," she declares, "the only thing I can say is that I will do it, maybe abroad... And I want everyone to do this if she or he wants to do it!" All you have to do to take part is upload your image and tag it #padsagainstsexism.
Her work has been criticised and praised in equal measure: there are some who say she's blazing a trail for a good cause, others claim she's wasting valuable tampons and should be giving them to homeless women instead. Fair enough, but weird too – she can do both. If marrying menstruation and rape takes audiences out of their comfort zone, isn't that the definition of a successful art project?
Elonë isn't the first women to use menstruation for art. Tracy Emin once displayed a jar of used tampons next to a pregnancy test for a piece called "The History Of Painting Part 1". Chilean artist Carina Ubeda saved five years worth of menstrual blood and displayed the blood in a 2013 exhibition called Cloths. A visitor to Ubeda's exhibition made this poignant remark: "Male blood is celebrated for being brave, while ours is a shame."
What do you think of Elonë's work?
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