Body opening

Body Opening: Gender/Religion/Anatomy intersect in the Wound is the title of my MA research paper where I analise the work of ORLAN, Franko B and Jenny Saville.

ABSTRACT
Within Western conceptions of the body, I will analyse the symbolism of body opening and the intersection of gender, anatomy and religion. A critical insight into the history of dissection will establish the religious and gendered meanings inscribed in dissection practices. Christian mythology from God's opening of Adam to extract the second sex to the sacred wound of Jesus, inscribes dissection in the symbolic realm. Female bodily experience of ovulation, birth and menstruation, is hidden behind masculine versions, such as the male Creator, the male surgeon, and the male sacrifice. The vagina underlies the artificial cut.
I will analyse how three contemporary artists address the intersection of gender, religion and anatomy in the cut flesh and alter the symbolic patriarchal order. I will interpret the blood in Franko B's performances in relation to menstruation, Eucharist and pathology; how ORLAN takes female agency to the extreme in managing surgically her own body; and Saville's depiction of gendered meat.