Blood and supper

There has been a blast/earthquake/fire/traffic accident. The media rushes in after the paramedics/fire engine/rescue services. In the breaking/evening news there is a clip of a lone unconscious man with a bloody bandage over his right eye. His trousers are still on him. They look like military camouflage, only red.

He has been wounded in someone else's battle.

Does this happen in other places too, or only here: hapless bodies filmed and their wounds archived for posterity without their consent? Did the now-unconscious bodies sign a release to have their stitched-up torsos photographed before oblivion came knocking? Does the journalists’ code of conduct state that when a patient is incapacitated, the duty to report trumps the patient’s right to privacy? How about conscious patients: how many know they have a right to refuse to be filmed? 

It seems that we are OK-ish with blood. Perhaps we are too OK with blood and violence. Let’s swap the unconscious bloodied man with a woman who’s given birth on the roadside. The first thing we do is smother her lower body with Khanga. We must hide the juices of her labor.  And you bet she won’t make the evening news. Birth blood is not sensational. If anything, it is a source of shame. It speaks of sloppiness, unpreparedness. A not-accident. Even though it’s been known that some babies decide to pop out at the most inopportune time. Ask Akitelek. 

Apparently not all haemoglobin is equal…

Never mind that the business of bleeding makes billions of revenue dollars for companies such as P&G, Johnson & Johnson, and many others. 

Now, I would not advocate that we flush out our sanitary towels with the same flair some do their smart phones – in the same way we wouldn’t flash our toothbrush or nail clippers. And I am not saying that menstrual blood is on the same level as mud on our shoes or curry on our shirt. Still I wonder who makes the unwritten rules about what body fluids we can watch at dinnertime.  

Woven alongside Dr. Wambui Mwangi, Akitelek Mboya, and Kati ya Wanawake.

A letter protesting the actions of Minister Liljeroth on World Art Day

Dear Ambassador Ann Dismorr,

I trust you are well. Your attention is drawn to the now very public issue/act that took place at the Moderna Museet in celebration of World Art Day. This is a letter of protest based on the following:

The depiction of a woman’s body as a consumable item

·         Enough said.

As art, it crossed several red lines

While the motive of the installation (provocation) may have been noble, the execution was wanting in several respects:

·         The ‘eating’ of a woman’s body is problematic for those of us who are against the commoditization and resultant cheapening of women’s bodies and lives.

·         The use of time-worn racist caricatures (a golliwog, disfigured African body, and cannibalism) was hardly imaginative of the artists. The endorsement of this by the Minister for Culture is, again, problematic.  

·         Was the installation meant to also depict a cannibalistic sexual rite (after all the audience ate the female figures ‘genitalia’ with glee)?

Cheapening of the horrors of FGM

·         The carving of the cake figure, much as it was intended to draw attention to the issue of female genital mutilation, ended up as an insult, humiliation and deep disrespect towards the bodies of women. That the action of slicing and eating was headed by a woman depicted absolutely no sympathy or fellow feeling for millions of black women who undergo real pain and real cutting in the process of female genital mutilation.

The obvious potential for the installation to be perceived as racist

·         While I am in no position to judge the Minister’s motives as racist, she should have known better; she should have known this awful picture would be perceived and received through the lenses of race. This is a case of inexcusably bad judgment on the part of a government official.

Depiction of Swedish people

·         That the lead person in this act was the Minister for Culture represented the people of Sweden in questionable light. I find solace in knowing there are many Swedish people who are angry about being represented this way.

I trust that your government will take appropriate action not only towards Minister Liljeroth, but most importantly, towards women throughout the world, whose bodies have been disrespected and desecrated once again in a very public manner by an individual who should have known better. An unqualified apology to from the Minister to all women, particularly black women, would be a helpful place to start.

In solidarity with woman,

Phyllis Muthoni 

Woven alongside Dr. Wambui Mwangi's Black and White and Red All Over

My favourite blogs of last week

Akitelek Mboya does this thing with words that touches all the raw and vulnerable places inside. She is able to do that without a hint of self-pity. She writes courageously. Sunny Days in Nairobi

Annette Majanja celebrates her 'Fighter' grandma. Her blog goes to show that true influence doesn't necessarily come from those with money or education. Rather, from those with the ability to see a new future and safeguard it for their children.

When women get angry, they shake the world. Women, like men, don't always do the right thing when they are angry. Do we stop and try to hear and heal one another's anger? Jean Thevenet has inspired me to stop and listen instead of judging.

Salt is like a stinging lash. So is the incisive dialogue brought to life by Nyambura Githongo in relation to the girls of Aitong Girls High School. The motivations for mortgaging our children's future are often complicated, albeit unacceptable.

Jerry Riley's photography speaks to me of depth of vision and an intimacy with his subjects that is empathetic and respectful. He is the biggest photographer of all time in my mind, because of the investment he makes in understanding and identifying.