Hannah Scott
How to Navigate Womanhood Within the Patriarchy by Hannah Scott
When looking into the developmental life stages of women, a woman's life is typically categorized and organized in a way that reduces women to their ability to bleed and bear children. "These include premenarche (before the first menstrual period) stage; the reproductive, premenopausal stage; the early menopausal transition stage; the late menopausal transition stage; and finally, menopause" (Hill). In this work, the ideas of life experience as a woman from the perspective of the patriarchy are analyzed. How to Navigate Womanhood Within the Patriarchy is a quilt made from women's underwear. Each section of underwear is marked by a different square, each representing a different aspect of a woman's developmental life as stated by medical journalist, Yuko Takeda. Each stage is marked by something damaging, such as mental health issues, substance abuse, sexual abuse, etc., emphasizing that the experience of being a woman is fraught with suffering and problems. The goal of the project was to map a spiritual journey, and I chose to use quilting as my medium. With the Scholarly and Creative Grant that I was awarded by Chapman University, I was able to expand on an existing work to make a life-sized quilt.
With the idea of "mapping spirituality", in mind, I have created a map on how to navigate womanhood, and what to expect on the journey. This piece is designed with inspiration from the Underground Railroad quilts that were made to help enslaved people escape to freedom. This quilt acts as a warning and a map of what a woman is to expect if she does not escape from the patriarchy. The materials used in this piece include twelve pairs of women's underwear, fabric pieces from the underwear, light-pink cotton fabric, red embroidery thread, period blood, fabric glue, lotion, and a condom. The underwear has been placed in a roughly 6” x 6” pattern onto a large sheet of pink fabric.
The first square on the quilt will have an image of a tampon with period blood on it. This square represents the "beginning" in the development of a woman, which is menstruation. The second square will represent stereotypical puberty of a cisgender woman, which is the growth of breasts and pubic hair. The third square is a mostly empty plate, with scatterings of peas. This square represents the development of an eating disorder or a distorted view of food. The fourth square features the design of several hands, with strands of string coming off of the fingers; these pieces of string are meant to represent blood. This square represents the experience of sexual harassment and rape while growing up as a woman. On square five, there is a condom. This represents the expected heteronormative sex-life for women. The sixth square has a design of a baby bottle. This represents the stage of childbearing that every woman in a patriarchal society has to participate in. The seventh square has a pink and white gingham pattern. This represents a woman taking on the role of being a housewife. The eighth square will have a simple outline of a female human figure, marked by a simple light-skin colored oval, blonde hair (lace), and a black outfit. There will be a red-stitched "X" over the person's abdomen area. This represents menopause and infertility. The ninth square has a handicap symbol. This represents how a woman is expected to then become the caretaker for her older husband and her parents once they're older. The tenth square has a design of a black square, with two triangles spiking out at the four corners of the square. In the language of the Underground Railroad quilts, this design represents the north star, which instructed enslaved people to follow the north star to Canada for freedom. This design represents women dreaming of a place of freedom that is far away and out of their reach. The eleventh square has a chaotic design, with ripped pieces of fabric put together in a jumble. This represents the rapid decline in mental and physical health that women may encounter. On the twelfth pair of underwear, there is nothing; it is completely blank. This represents death, and complete freedom from the structure, as represented by the square, and being trapped in a box. Cute colored and patterned underwear will be used in this piece to make the map seem sweet and inviting. Upon further inspection, however, the viewer will find darker themes stitched into the quilt.
In this design, women are meant to serve their purpose as childbearers and suffer the consequences of being born into their own sex. How to Navigate Womanhood Within the Patriarchy emphasizes how the outline and pressures of a patriarchal society do not allow room for women to follow their own path through life. Women's lives are mapped out for them by men.