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Friday 24 January 2014

'Vaginal Knitting' Is The Latest Feminist Performance Art - But Does It Open Discussion Or Close It? [Video]

vaginal knitting

Meet Casey Jenkins, the feminist performance artist - or 'craftivist' as she prefers to be known - taking the internet by storm with her latest work 'Casting Off My Womb', where she spends 28 days knitting from her vagina.
Yes, you read that correctly. Vaginal knitting.
"I'm spending 28 days knitting from wool that I've inserted in my vagina," Casey explains. "Everyday I take a new skein of wool that's been wound so that it will unravel from the centre and I stick it up inside me... and then I pull out the thread and knit."

The piece, dubbed 'Vaginal Knitting' by Australian TV channel SBS2Australia, hopes to break down boundaries surrounding a taboo subject: the female genitals.

"If you take a good, hard look at a vulva, you realise it's just a bit of a body. There's nothing that is shocking or scary... nothing that is gonna run out and eat you up," she says.
The performance hopes to be an honest exploration of the female body and an unflinching demonstration of its capabilities - Casey admits that the knitting can be arousing at times and vows to not stop knitting, even when her period comes.
"The performance wouldn't be a performance if I were going to cut out my menstrual cycle from it," she reasons.
According to Gawker, Casey and her peers at Craft Cartel work to combat misogyny and closed government through their art.
"I hope that people question the fears and the negative associations they have with the vulva," Jenkins says.
So far, so liberating. While Casey's intentions may be solid, but does the message of such a daring piece of work risk getting missed among the shock tactics - lost somewhere in a pool of menstrual blood?
While some reactions on Twitter commend Casey's work, the majority are a mixture of ridicule and disgust...
"Feeling extremely disturbed after watching a 'vaginal knitting'" tweets @jessjessxo.


"Vaginal knitting...? is this what you call thinking outside of the 'box'?" writes ‏@TanglewoodThick.


The mixed reactions are true too among the media, with publishers often poking fun or adopting a questionable turn of phrase.
What do you think of Vaginal Knitting? Let us know in the comments below
Credit: huffingtonpost

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