Photography
This photo project aims to break the taboos around female sexuality.
British photographer Laura Dodsworth has decided to break taboos with her new project. Womanhood (which means being an adult for a woman) is a collection of photographs of 100 different vulvae. This new photo book will be released on February 21.
” I know people will find the photos quite shocking, but this is a crucial part of my story. »She told the British newspaper The Independent.
Womanhood is the third installment in her “Bare Reality” series where she examines the private parts of different people. The first issue focused on the breasts of 100 women, along with their stories. In her second issue, Laura Dodsworth focused on penises, in a project called “Manhood”. Each time, she wishes to show the diversity of human bodies by interviewing and photographing people of different ages, sizes, gender identities and ethnicities.
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“ The difference between this project and those I have done in the past is that unlike the breasts and penises, which are external, the vulvae are hidden and mysterious. », She explains. ” If you’re a heterosexual woman, you don’t see them. And if you try to find images on the internet, you will only see them in a pornographic context. “.
There is so much shame surrounding women’s bodies.
Its objective is above all to inform and show the vulvae in a non-sexual way. According to her, female sexuality is considered a taboo in society, and she wants to fight this idea. “ I use a physical taboo to open a conversation about social and emotional taboos »She confides to The Independent. ” There is so much shame surrounding women’s bodies, the way they are watched and portrayed in the media, and it reaches its peak when it comes to the vulva. “
Overcome the lack of information
Beyond the taboo, it is above all a lack of information that is worrying according to Laura Dodsworth. According to a recent study, 60% of women cannot identify the vulva on an anatomical diagram. The vulva, often confused with the vagina, refers to the whole “ female external genitalia »According to the Larousse dictionary. The vagina, on the other hand, is a conduit ” which extends from the uterus to the vulva in women “.
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The British photographer realized this confusion during her interviews. ” One of the recurring issues was that many of them didn’t know what word to use to describe their genitals. »She explains. ” Doing the project opened up a very relevant and interesting discussion about how we discuss female anatomy. “
100 VAGINAS
I’m thrilled to announce that there will be a film about my project on @ Channel4 Tuesday 19th February 10pm.
It’s bold, sensitive, incredibly intimate & there hasn’t been anything like it. Please watch & share this! # 100Vaginas #Muffia #BustingTaboos #Womanhood pic.twitter.com/KoIwmlXTAo– Laura Dodsworth (@BareReality) February 13, 2019
Tonight, a documentary telling the stories of these women will be broadcast on Channel 4 in Great Britain to address this taboo subject in prime time. The documentary, entitled 100 vaginas, uses this term in order to better appeal to the public who are more accustomed to this word, rather than to that of “vulva”. One of the women interviewed in the documentary recounts the genital mutilation she suffered. The photographer explains that she was very marked by this story and says that “ female genital mutilation is the most brutal violence that can be inflicted on a woman’s vulva “. She concludes by saying ” every woman in the room was crying “.