Blood is normal.

I always hated tampon and sanitary towel adverts. All those rollerskating women. Why was it strange to be able to roller-skate when you were bleeding? It never occurred to me that it would be a problem.

But the thing that annoyed me the most was why was period blood always blue? Who would we be offending if it was the colour it really was: pink, bright red,  dark red, sometimes rusty brown, but never blue. Surely we wouldn't be upsetting women. We see our own blood every month, we're made of stronger stuff.

So it must be for men. Adverts for women written with men in mind.

I longed to write a TV advert that featured red blood.

And now there is one.

And seeing it made me cry.

These are real periods. Ones that make you feel hormonal and cry easily for no good reason and knot your tummy in pain. Ones that come with the relief of knowing you're not pregnant. Ones where you have to stick your sanitary pad up your jumper to carry it surreptitiously to the loos. Period sex with the less squeamish of your boyfriends. Real stuff. It touched a chord.

After watching it I feel more proud to be a woman. I'm not sure why. But perhaps its like finding acceptance to something that you've hidden because the world suggested it was dirty. 

But it's not dirty. 

It's normal. 

Wangechi Mutu and her disturbing surreal collages.

The problem with any kind of artistic pursuit is that when you're feeling down you tend to block yourself creatively. Suddenly whatever artistic thing you are engaged in seems stupid and pointless because you feel stupid and pointless. Why paint pictures when other people are better artists than you? What's the point of writing a blog when there are people who are actually paid to write blogs and research their subject matter all day? 

This year I've struggled with these doubts. But I'm happy to say that the fog has lifted. I feel happier than I have done in years. I'm starting to feel creative again. And what better way to start thinking of new and interesting things than to look at a weird and wonderful artist. 

Wangechi Mutu is an african artist who works in New York. Whilst she also does sculpture and moving image, her most famous pieces are her collages. Her images often focus on a disturbed image of the female figure - sometimes with monstrous spikes, plant-like growths, mechanical cyborg elements and animal features. The result is of women who look grotesque and disturbing but yet still beautiful. It makes me think of the nature of women in the world today - told to embrace our sexual instincts, obsessed with technology which has become an extension of ourselves and constantly trying to refigure our own images - through surgery, Facebook selfies and makeup. 

The collages are built from magazine cut outs (images of female beauty cut out of context), from sculpted and painted surfaces and found materials. The collage helps to portray Mutu's idea that: "Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male. Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body."

Here are some of my favourite pieces of her art: 

For more on Wangechi Mutu check out this Guardian's article:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/25/wangechi-mutu-artist-interview-africa-snakes-mermaids

“It’s like, I’m Joan, and their vag is the ark.”

Tampon adverts have come a long way since rollerskating and riding ponies whilst enjoying a happy period. First we had the Bodyform advert taking the piss out of their own older advertising. Now we have this extremely funny advert for Hello Flo - a company who produce period packages.

In it we see a young teenage girl who is at summer camp when she gets her period. Since she is first she becomes Camp Gyno dealing tampons like they are drugs and bullying the other girls by controlling the supply chain.

This advert is not only surprising because it is really funny. But also because it's the first advert that features young girls who have just got their periods rather than beautiful model-like adults of about 25. It also has them using words like "vagina". Hooray! Why shouldn't girls talk about their bodies and tell it like it is? I am very impressed. What a step forward.

The advert was shot by marquis and Mccelland and produced at Hayden 5.



And here, if you still haven't seen it is the Bodyform advert.

Seen any other impressive modern tampon adverts? Send em my way. 

Amanda Palmer my new feminist hero.

I am a girl who has always picked feminist idols to look up to. Over the years I've collected a few. Here they are for mutual admiration.

1. Jane Austen, Author

Damn she was a clever woman our Jane. And she has just been recognised as one of our greatest national figures by the sexist Royal Mint. She will be the new face of £10 notes. Austen's writing poked fun at the establishment and the precarious role of women who's futures hung at the mercy of often very stupid or roguish men. Not only that, she actually turned down an offer of marriage, just like her heroine Elizabeth Bennet. Girl had balls.

2. Madonna, Singer

Madonna is a bitch and a diva isn't she? She's also pretty demanding and extreme. But fuck what people say about her, she knows how to do the showbiz thing. She's the master of reinvention and she's battled to stay at the top for three decades. She's strong. She does things her way and isn't scared of criticism. She never apologises and she loves sex and her body and has hot toy boys. Go Madge!

2. Lady Gaga, Singer

Lady Gaga says she is a feminist. She doesn't dress for men to gawp at like most female singers. She dresses for the theatre and spectacle, to show off her creativity and to push boundaries. She hasn't used her looks to get where she is, she has used her brain. She's also a champion for gay rights and someone who gives those who don't fit the mould someone to relate to.

3. Caitlin Moran, Journalist and Author

Moran's book "How to be a Woman" is extremely funny, self depreciating and charming. At the same time it is also a book which tells women to embrace who they are, to accept the fact they are natural women with faults and quirks. She argues that we shouldn't look like barbie dolls with no public hair, we are women not children! Plus she shares my instinctive love for Lady Gaga.

4. NEW ENTRY Amanda Palmer, Singer.
Amanda Palmer's songs are clever and funny and about true life. What US rapper, X factor contestant or Pussy cat doll can say that? She has also spoken out in response to the Daily Mail's coverage of her performance at Glastonbury which failed to mention the music or her performance and solely concentrated on the fact that one of her boobs escaped her bra on stage. In a performance at the Round House she mocks The Daily Mail in a song called "Dear Daily Mail" in which she criticises them for objectifying women and reducing them to body parts. And in order to show how little she cares whether "shock horror" her boob escapes she drops her robe half way through the song. Look she says, come fight me now. Respect.