Monday 18 July 2011

Something beautiful :: something ugly

Hello dear ladies,

It's been a little while and I have been busy crocheting - I will share that with you very soon!

I was listening to Woman's Hour on the radio the other morning and heard a really interesting feature about the Shoreditch Sisters WI (Women's Institute) and their amazing project. They are a group of women in London who get together to meet, make and agitate. These women are currently making an incredible quilt to highlight the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). It is something I feel very strongly about and so was intrigued to hear that the Shoreditch Sisters are using craft to raise awareness. It is called the Embroideries Campaign.

The quilt is being made up of hundreds of...well....vulvas! Some are sewn, embroidered, crocheted, knitted. Some are made of velvet, silk, lace, fur. These little creations are works of real beauty - like flowers! it seems a really beautiful way to address a custom that is so very ugly. Apparently there is still time to add your own contribution to the quilt so go over to the Embroideries Campaign website and find out more.

Here is a little glimpse of what they are creating......





Back very soon with some crochet!!!! Yay!! xxxx

8 comments:

  1. Ah how lovely to see you again!

    I remember reading about FGM when I was about 13 and it's something I have always felt doesn't get enough coverage. What a great idea! That first fanny could be worn as a corsage, so lovely. I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere... But seriously, maybe we could all go around wearing these flowers of our, ah hem, flowers like we do with the cancer ribbon.

    Xxx

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  2. I knew very little about FGM, so I went and had a read about it. How utterly awful that so many girls and women are going through such a devastating thing..
    The quilt is such a great idea. What a creative way to try to combat the problem..

    Ashley xxx

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  3. I remember reading an article about this practice many years ago in a sunday supplement magazine, it was truly horrifying. This is a gentle and creative way to raise awareness. I hope they are successful.

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  4. This is amazing - it reminds me of The Great Wall of Vagina (see here http://www.brightonbodycasting.com/design-a-vagina.php) but it's encouraging interactive involvement which is fantastic. It's an excellent idea and for a good cause, too! I agree with Cuckoo - we should all wear them like a 'Cancer Ribbon' (although I might go bright red the moment I walk out of my front door). xx

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  5. Thanks for talking about this campaign x

    Leah x

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  6. Good on you for highlighting this - I feel VERY strongly about this and have done since I was 19 and first found out about FGM. I cannot tell you how outraged I was. I couldn't believe how some people including friends of mine were justifying it in the name of culture and/or feminism (I consider my self to be a feminist by dint of being female and unapologetic for it). Even Germaine Greer does so. If I both read correctly and remember rightly she compared it to episiotomy in child birth which is extensively carried out in the West and said it was worse than FGM which it was essentially beyond us to understand the cultural meaning of it and was therefore not wrong. I beg to differ. Thanks for your post - I would bet there are many many people who still do not know about the practice, what it entails and the fact that it still happens in the UK. It isn't the sort of thing we talk about is it? We don't even have an 'indoor' word for our female parts do we? We don't mind talking about willies but tying to come up with an acceptable name to use, even with out daughters is so difficult. I like vjayjay my self!

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  7. Ooooh, love the first one it's gorgeous!! Like Cuckoo says I'd be happy to wear that one as a brooch!!

    FGM is indeed an outrage and it's good to hear that these ladies are campaigning in such a way against it!!

    We call them fluffies in our house (as they are fluffy, well mine is - I go au naturel as a girl of the '70's!!)

    S x

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  8. Thanks for highliting FGM, it is truly a horrible practice. Years ago a friend of ours, a sociology professor at our local University, made a fantastic film on this subject and the brave women who are fighting to educate and abolish the practice (http://www.theshapeofwatermovie.com/index.html).
    Your new blanket project is wonderful and different. Well worth the effort in finding that lovely pattern! xJosie

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment here - I love to read what you have to say! x