Women celebrate Femininity with art

Women ought to be celebrated for having made great strides toward acceptance, equality and respect. However, women have always been used as subjects of art, produced in the negative light. Historically, women have been displayed as ideal feminine figures and sexualised objects of desire.

For instance, Venus of Urbino, a 1538 oil painting by the Italian master, Titian, shows a woman passively reclining, staring seductively at her audience. She has no identity beyond that of an object to be gawked at by an intended male audience.

This idea continues to be perpetuated even in the 20th Century as sexualised images of women depicted as sexual objects, whose sole purpose is to flaunt their sexuality for men, continue to circulate.

Against this background, an incredible collective of women are coming together, raising their voices on issues that matter and effortlessly breaking boundaries in the local arts scene.

Styled ‘Sexploitation: Story of Me’, this is a movement based in Lilongwe that aims at working with enthusiastic women from every corner of the country.

Created by women with a visible anti-male sentiment, music and photography are the main platforms to be used by this movement to promote its ideas.

The project will benefit secondary school students through providing them with sanitary kits, according to co-founder of the movement, Mimi Mtambo.

“‘Sexploitation: Story of Me’ is a movement to promote the rights of women through art. Basically we use sex and sexuality to make our point. Currently, we are doing an album called Story of Me. The aim is to raise money for secondary and primary school students who are going through menstruation but have no way of

having the full sanitary kit.

“The reason this movement was started is because we would love the world to see the African woman as more than just a woman aspiring to get married and have babies. Of course, we understand that women naturally have to go through these processes but it does not mean a woman cannot aspire to be more sexually, mentally and even as a social being,” she said.

Art in its various forms is a unique tool that has been proven to develop individuals and society—it is fun, it is an escape, a job, a passion, a mirror, a window, a language, a catalyst for change, an instrument for personal and social growth and development, and so much more.

The group of female artists are using their creative music talent to share important messages in society, such as female empowerment, women’s rights and gender equality.

“The project is in three phases and we are currently on phase one where production of the album is underway. We have Hazel Mak, Sipe, Precious, Yolanda, Flo Dee, Rina, Trinity and Ink as our main artists but we have four main producers; Dominant 1, BFB, Rebel Music as well as Flow. These guys are breaking their backs for this project and it’s the first time in sub-Saharan Africa that more than five women have worked on an album for a cause,” she affirmed with a toothy smile.

“Each artist is doing a track on exploring her sexuality. It’s not dirty but rather love and embracing your inner woman. There will be 12 tracks, two of which will be performed by all; one which is fun and sexy and another which is a cry by the African woman,” she stated.

Apart from the songs which will be compiled on a CD, there will be DVD of one video song that will feature all the artists involved. Again, a booklet depicting different women in a positive light sexually will be published by the movement.

Photography as a medium has played a critical role in the feminist art movement in other parts of the world.

For all intents and purposes of this movement, photography will capture issues of every woman.

By using photography, these women will be able to represent themselves in a more effective way than in other media. The movement believes photography is a powerful tool in deconstructing the male gaze while bringing private moments into the public domain.

Stated Mtambo: “It’s an annual thing which we are launching on September 11, at the Koko Bean gardens in Lilongwe. The second phase is the production of the Story of Me booklet in which we are inviting women of different ages and backgrounds from Malawi to take a picture and share their deepest self.

“The pictures will be sexy or portray the sexuality of a woman but with a deeper caption as we would like people to understand women are not just skin deep. They are more than their bodies and whether they choose to embrace their sexuality or not, women should be respected for the deepness they have. This will coincide with the donation of the sanitary kits to the secondary schools.”

From aging body to tired eyes, the booklet will capture the essence of a working woman and a mother.

Presenting these women how they actually are—their flaws and all, with no denying that these were live, flesh-and-blood women—photography will capture private moments in women’s lives that would otherwise be ignored. These pictures and the booklet will serve as documents and give insight into the private lives of women that had been hidden for so long.

Though in its infancy, so far the movement has received positive response from women.

“Several women have taken a picture for our booklet but we are still inviting more as we would like a minimum of 100 women. During the launch, which will also be an exhibition, some of these women will share their stories. This is modern feminism movement in which we want men to be a part of and they can play any role they deem fit in the movement. We are looking for any woman flexible enough to show her sexuality in a positive way. But we have a minimum age limit of 21,” she avowed.

But how is music and booklet of photographs of women linked to issues of menstruation?

“This is a sexual process a woman goes through. It is a natural process that is almost taboo to the Malawian woman. The reason the project is called sexploitation is because we will be fighting for a female sexual process or problem each year.

“There are some schools in Malawi where girls are sent back home because of menstruation. This album is calling on Malawians to accept the sexual process of all women and in this case menstruation. Women sharing their stories in the booklet is basically because we want to be understood as deeper than skin and one of the deeper processes is menstruation,” explained Mtambo. n