Nobody likes talking about periods. Period.
They may not be fun, but they’re for sure nothing to be ashamed of. And the more we talk about them, the more empowered we are to deal with issues such as menstruation.
Californian artist, Annie Wong wanted to shift the stigma and turn periods into something positive, and maybe even cute. With this in mind, she decided to create a series of GIF’s to show periods in a positive and playful way. The project is called Ovary Actions (Gettit??? Its okay, it took us a second too).
In school, Annie remembers a covert gathering being called, for the girls, school nurse and teachers to watch a video on menstruation, while the boys were brought outside to play basketball. Annie felt that this culture of secrecy was unnecessary. When you think about it, half of the world’s population experience periods, so people who make it okay to have conversations should only be applauded.
“I wanted to focus on euphemisms that maybe are not super negative or gross because I like the idea of this project as being visually accessible. I do appreciate a lot of period art that I see out there but can understand people’s resistance to depictions of real blood because I’ve felt that way myself,” Annie told Teen Vogue. “When I was doing research and following a bunch of Instagram accounts doing menstrual artwork, I found one account that showed actually menstrual blood on pads and I did have a visceral reaction, even though that’s clearly what I opted into. But once I started to see it on my feed on a consistent basis, I was totally fine with it, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is something I do also.’ So with my own art, I wanted to create something that wasn’t going to immediately push someone away from the idea that ‘it’s not a big deal. It’s just a period. A lot of people experience this.’ I hate the idea that there is shame surrounding it.”
You can view all of Annie’s work here. She is happy for her work to be shared as long as she is credited, as she hopes to earn a living by making bespoke GIF’s that companies can share through their social media.
All artwork is credited to Annie Wong. You can view her website here.
