Vulva and the American Flag
Symbols represent ideas greater than the object itself and can be used to bring people to a common cause. America has more symbols than most countries (our flag, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, Lady Justice). These symbols are central components of our unity. Could another national symbol be a vulva with etiquette instructions like those used for the American flag? The word, vulva, is so rarely used that many Americans are not able to differentiate between vulva and vagina. Yet, Paleolithic statuettes with articulated vulva, small and easily carried, take no pains to hide their sexuality. The vulva with the American flag as source material means to lay bare our culture’s faulty notions about women’s anatomy and to raise the question: Do we know enough about women’s bodies to control them through legislation?