Blood Politics

Blood Politics

Blood Politics examines sexual and reproductive violence against women, explicitly highlighting nonconsensual genital surgery. This video is an unsettling juxtaposition between the abject horror of inhumane surgical practices, subjugation, and sexual gratification. Combining the two infringes on our notions of autonomy and privacy by disrupting the primality of self-pleasure. Turning the camera transfers viewership and creates a converse sense of power from the reception of cunnilingus and self-stimulation. This disturbing union draws our attention to the darkest sides of sexism and patriarchal constructions while simultaneously defying traditions based on conquest. Tainting the white background and water with bloody substance violates puritanical views of innocence, chastity, and cleanliness to subvert oppressive values while martyrizing menstruation as a symbol of reproductive rights. The symbols used in this video speak to a multitude of injustices, but it is important to clarify the genuine threat of Female Genital Mutilation.

Female Genital Mutilation is a process where young girls between infancy and age 15 undergo forcible surgery that, for non-medical purposes, removes the majority of their vulva and clitoris. This inhumane procedure is a tradition meant to dissuade any future sexual desires as an attempt to assert more physical and aesthetic control over these women. Female genital mutilation has affected over 200 million girls and women, many still living today. Although this practice is illegal in many countries, there are still 30 countries that still practice the act throughout parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. This procedure has no medical benefit, only harm, and sometimes even causes shock, infection, or death before the wounds can heal. This tradition is a blatant violation of human rights.