Petra Collins on censorship and the female body
Petra Collins is an artist. She photographs, contributes to things, and curates — and in doing so, dissects girl culture. Her recent creation for American Apparel's online store; a tee with an illustration of a bleeding vagina, being touched, sparked interest online but ultimately wasn't allowed on TV. Likewise, her Instagram (with 25k followers) was just deleted. Here, she tells Oyster the story and why it pisses her off.
http://oystermag.com/petra-collins-on-censorship-and-the-female-bodyBelow is one of several paragraphs included in the article at the above link. You should go read the rest :) Sorry, no comments allowed because I'm using iOS, and Blogger doesn't support it, so no edits to silly default settings.
I'm used to seeing cover after cover featuring stories about a popular celebrity being fat-shamed during pregnancy. I'm used to seeing reviews of an award show performance that critiques a female singer for being "slutty" but then fails to even mention the older male behind her. I'm used to reading articles about whole towns harassing a rape victim until she's forced to leave. I don't want to be used to this. I don't want to have to see the same thing constantly. I don't want to be desensitized to what's happening around me all.the.time. I consider myself endlessly lucky to have access to the Internet and technology. Through it I've found myself and have been able to join a new discourse of females young and old who strive to change the way we look and treat ourselves. I know having a social media profile removed is a 21st century privileged problem - but it is the way a lot of us live. These profiles mimic our physical selves and a lot of the time are even more important. They are ways to connect with an audience, to start discussion, and to create change. Through this removal I really felt how strong of a distrust and hate we have towards female bodies. The deletion of my account felt like a physical act, like the public coming at me with a razor, sticking their finger down my throat, forcing me to cover up, forcing me to succumb to societies image of beauty. That these very real pressures we face everyday can turn into literal censorship.
