Project #5: Word on the Street
This project, like all of the others we’ve had this semester, was actually really fun for me!
I just wrote a huge paper for my English class about the worldly taboo surrounding menstruation. It’s a topic I’m very passionate about and have been thinking about this whole semester in preparation for this paper. I believe that there is this unnecessary tiptoeing around talking about periods, especially among males who don’t experience menstruation. A lot (but certainly not all) of men see periods as gross or the reason that females are “bitchy”, which are harmful and pretty offensive stereotypes. It’s become a joke. In my belief, this stems from the lack of proper sex education, as well as the lack of communication regarding periods among, well, everybody. We as a society just tend not to talk about such things. But what if we did?
So with that on my mind, I decided to take it a step further and post these small, almost hidden little phrases throughought the art building. There is one poem, but the rest are my own words. I got my inspiration from Jenny Holzer’s feminist pieces, where she posts short phrases like “Raise boys and girls the same way” on big theater marquis. I loved that. I figured that with these short, tiny little phrases that are almost hidden, it almost creates a sense of intimacy between the viewer and the piece. Like, “hey, now that I have your attention because you took the time to really see what this tiny piece of paper says, let’s talk about this issue.” And in a way, I think that’s the most successful way to get someone to think about something.
