Why did I start making these kind of art pieces? Itās because I had never seen the vagina of others and I was too self-conscious of mine.
Have you heard of this wonderful thing called the internet?
I hope this is one of those cases where she got arrested because the authorities worried that people were actually listening to her and possibly challenging their stupid laws.
Thatās that what I was about to say. The internet is made up of about 99.9% vaginas. I call bullshit on this āI had never seen the vagina of othersā thing.
While the internet is made up of many wonder things, like vaginas, to my understanding you can not walk into an adult type of store in Japan and pickup something showing a vagina.
Of course then Japan does shit like this:
Possession of child pornography depicting real children is illegal in Japan since June 2014.
Iāve heard Japan produces more porn per square penis than any other nation on earth - but theyāre careful to pixel the naughty bits. Itās charming, because hereās naked Japanese people moaning and groaning, and this little tiny pixel patch soā¦ who knows?
What Iām wondering is how she went about distributing this 3d data file? I mean, itās pretty involved to intercept a set of data points, reconstruct the original, and declare it obscene. Did the cops actually print oneā¦ or severalā¦ in latex?
My guess is the cops looked at the filename and saw something like āMy Vagina.3dsā and closed the case.
Again, internet. Not walking in to stores. Internet. Lots of vaginas.
Now a song with the tune from My Sharona (actually Weird Alās parody My Balogna) is in my head titled My Vagina.
If she had said, āIād never seen a picture of anotherās vaginaā, then Iād agree with you. The vaginas Iāve encountered in person have been quite different from the pictures Iāve seen on the internet.
Huffpost has a good take on this. They explain that while the vagina is still basically a hidden object in Japan (for sex purposes only), the penis is something to be revered, and thatās not OK in the artistās eyes. Sheās trying to give the vagina the same cultural standing that a phallus has through pop imagery. Itās an understandable goal when you consider the intent is sexual equality.
She specifically mentions depictions of the penis in Japanese culture:
āPenis, on the other hand, has been used in illustrations and has become a part of pop culture. But vagina has never been so cute.ā
So, I think you are mistaken, and I continue to call bullshit on this.
Now everyone can be the proverbial ālittle man in the boatā!
I think most you who canāt believe sheād never seen a vagina missed the part where she is a 42 year old artist and sheās been doing these since the start of her ācareerā. Turns out the internet has only really been a thing since the early 90ās so an artist in very FEMALE conservatie Japan would not likely seen an āactualā vagina outside of poorly drawn comics. Something to consider.
I have to take exception to this. They would be gloriously drawn comics, but then there would be black bars over the genitals because Japan.
But yeah, back in the early 90s your average person would have a little difficulty getting on the internet, especially in Japan and doubly so if they arenāt technical.
Vaginas are actually not that easy to see. First you have to get past the labia, both major and minor, then the sea of swirly twirly gum drops and through the Lincoln Tunnelā¦
Not to mention past the deluge of delicious champagne-tasting fluids squished by the feet of tiny vagina gnomesā¦
Ahem: STRWAC
a) stop calling bullshit on the artist. Itās rude. Itās disrespectful, especially given that sheās speaking up about one variety of gender oppression.
b) after seeing her website I gotta wonder if Louis Vuitton is going to sue her next.
Watching that video, itās painful to think about how much work there is to do in Japan regarding feminism. OTOH, itās not a linear process, and Japanese feminism isnāt going to progress the same way it has in the states, so thereās plenty to look forward to. But in the meantime, ouch!
The internet makes every place in the world seem like the one you grew up in.
