From objectification to sexual reclamation: Sophia Wallace, a visual artist, has begun a movement for body sovereignty and equal citizenship based upon the concept of “cliteracy.” She pioneered the creative art project.
“The project is a project that deals with the clitoris, literally the discovery of the clitoris, information about the clitoris, the clitoris as a metaphor, a symbol and as a subject,” she said, according to a quote from Mail and Guardian Women. To transform our phallocentric society, we need to construct a language that disrupts the hierarchy perpetuated through the shaming of bodies. A woman’s most central source of pleasure remains largely unacknowledged, and until the female orgasm is given the same consideration as a male’s, we will remain in a society of gender inequality.
For centuries, women have only been studied by science as the inverse of men and their bodies primarily recognized for reproductive value. In our society, phallic is neutral. Therefore women have bodies that are in a perpetual state of lacking. In the media, female bodies are hyper-sexualized, yet discourse surrounding their function and needs is overwhelmingly absent. Back in 2012, Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown was actually barred from the House floor for saying the word “vagina” during an abortion debate.
The full anatomy of the clitoris was not even discovered until 1998 by Dr. Helen O’Connell. Who knew the tip of the clitoris holds 8,000 nerves, twice as many as the tip of the penis? Despite this, American women reportedly only have one orgasm for every three a man has.
“The Earth is not the center of the universe and the penis is not the axis of it.” This is quoted from an art installation that Wallace created and calls the “100 Natural Laws of Cliteracy.” She compiled a list of concise phrases, facts, quotes and questions that raise awareness about the female sexual experience and anatomy. This was a mixed media installation that Wallace created in 2012. Wallace consciously chose the term “law” in order to provide the phrases and women with political potency, due to the fact that women’s bodies are so frequently legislated for them by our predominantly male government.
It is time the clitoris becomes a subject. Wallace is encouraging people to engage with this cliteracy concept and conversation. Through education, she is facilitating a second wave of the sexual revolution, one that dismantles the barriers we have all constructed around sex and the blinders we wear in regards to clitoris.
Despite college having a reputation as a place to explore sexuality, students at DU demonstrated discomfort and restraint when presented with the topic of sex and “cliteracy.”
The eyes are the windows to the soul and the clitoris is the window to the female orgasm. If students want to improve their sex lives exponentially and indefinitely, they need to take a hint. Even AskMen.com stated that, “Understanding the clitoris is the sign of a man that is invested in his partner and her pleasure, both of which are noble qualities.” Start investing and get acquainted with your lady’s clitoris. Ladies, just be ladies, and if that is even a mystery to you then do some personal investigation.
Women need to reclaim their biological right to experience pleasure to the full extent of their bodies’ capabilities.
Get “cliterate” so we can all get busy in the bed sheets and in the seats of Congress. Female sexual empowerment is a movement of societal equality and sexual sovereignty. Natural Law No. 31: Freedom in society can be measured by the distribution of orgasms. Overcome oppression one orgasm at a time.
