I've been thinking about this t-shirt a lot recently. I've been seeing the design around for a while because I follow both Petra and Anna on tumblr and instagram, so I didn't even really realise it had only just gone on sale this week. But the controversy managed to reach us here in Oz and I suddenly realised that not everyone exists in an awesomely feminist and progressive and subversive bubble like I do because some of the responses have kind of awful.
One of our national newspapers has an online section that is proudly and explicitly feminist and full of relevant articles about pop culture and sexism, so I'm not sure why I was surprised to see an article about Petra's t-shirt pop up. I couldn't figure out whether the article was for or against it - actually, I don't know if the author even knew if she liked the t-shirt or not. The comments, though. Ugh, they were ridiculous - people saying it was yuck and gross and just a ploy for money and shock value. I was so furious because it's bad enough that society in general shames women for masturbating and having pubic hair and periods (and for doing/having all of those things simultaneously), but when a group of women who actively follow a feminist newspaper shame that stuff it makes me really sad. Obviously people are entitled to their own opinion about this stuff, but it's my opinion that their opinions are stupid.
Anyway, I've been thinking about all this in relation to my own art as well, and about what I want to do with my photography when I finally finish my degree and have the time to experiment and figure shit out. Petra and Rookie and The Ardorous inspire me not to be scared to do what I want, to take the photos I want to take about the things I find interesting and important.
TL;DR - this shirt is awesome and inspiring and makes me proud to part of a feminist generation
