From photographing the dead in a morgue to submerging a Christ in urine, Andrés Serrano’s career has inspired many debates and discussions because of the way he dares to explore and question taboo topics. So, it should come as no surprise that for one of his many works he explored a topic that for centuries has both fascinated and horrified society: the vagina. Yes, female genitalia, a natural part of the body, is still the source of controversy, censorship, awe, and, believe it or not, fear and disgust.
Serrano gives his own take on this controversial topic in a compelling yet shocking photograph titled The Interpretation of Dreams (Vagina dentata -Toothed vagina). The image depicts a vulva from which two sharp fangs emerge in a vampire-like fashion. It remits us to the myth of toothed vaginas that’s present not only in ancient mythologies around the world, but also in popular culture, in movies such as Teeth (2007) and in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Besides the implicit shock factor in an image of a toothed vagina, the photograph raises the question of how we approach female genitalia, whether toothed or not. In other words, is our reaction as a society to this photograph that different from our reaction to a normal vagina?
Take, for instance, Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du monde (‘The Origin of the World’). It was painted in 1866 to be a part of an exhibition celebrating the female body organized by Turkish-Egyptian diplomat Khalil Bey. When the painting was first shown to the public, it caused both amusement and –surprise, surprise– outrage. Whether it is a voyeuristic approach to female anatomy or a celebration, as we can infer from its title, the painting still fascinates art critics and scholars because it manages to break with previous standards regarding the female nude. By focusing on the most censored part of the female anatomy, without recurring to vulgarity or pornographic images, Courbet honored the part of the body from which life is born into this world. Nonetheless, this picture was considered scandalous by many and, perhaps, just as controversial as Andrés Serrano’s work.
Where is this ambivalent reaction to the vagina rooted? Is it something that has been ingrained in society for centuries? Serrano’s photograph points to this last fact and brings us back to the anxiety and fear that’s always present in the many myths and stories involving a vagina dentata. Maori, Japanese, Indian, and Aztec mythologies, among many others, have stories where fearful or monstrous women possess toothed vaginas with which they kill or castrate men. Many of these stories end with the destruction or mutilation of the teeth. For instance, in a myth of the Baiga people in India, a landlord who wants to marry a woman with a vagina dentata pays four men to knock out her teeth by penetrating her with a spear. Once they’re done, he finds her crying in pain. After consoling her, he convinces her to marry him.
Aside from the fear of castration, or even death, these myths always talk about getting rid of women’s teeth (their main source of power), many times in scenes that allude to rape. This could make us consider this trope as way to perpetuate violence against women with the idea that her sexuality or her power is dangerous, so it is up to others to take that power from her in order to make her a more “accessible” woman. It might sound kind of far-fetched because we’re just talking about the vagina. Yet, even if these tales are centuries old, the depiction of female genitalia in art is still shocking to many, not to mention in other areas of everyday life.
Art by Ziva
After seeing this, we might think that perhaps Serrano didn’t really need to add teeth to the vulva to shock us. Just by recreating Courbet’s famous painting, he could have pointed out society’s double standards regarding the female anatomy. However, by confronting the audience with the “scary” version of that part of the body, this photograph makes us realize that our perceptions of female sexuality aren’t as innovative or revolutionary after all. Perhaps, they might not have changed that much after all this time.
Bringing up this topic and confronting us with our double standards is a good first step to start getting rid of these outdated ideas. There’s still a long way to go, but subversive works of art help us remember we’re still dealing with this problem, and that we shouldn’t be satisfied with the progress we’ve made as a society.
Source:
Emma L. E. Rees, The Vagina: A Literary and Cultural History
