Death & the Maiden co-founder, Sarah Chavez, talks to artist AJ Hawkins about her recent series, The Reclamation, which beautifully examines the decomposition of human bodies and the nutrient cycle through art.
Author Archives: deadmaidens
Tubercular Venus: When the Beauty Standard was Dying
If society’s beauty standard dictates a ‘proper’ woman should have pale skin and wear a crinoline that makes it near impossible for her walk through a doorway, chances are, that is a society that believes a woman’s place is in the home. So what does it say about a culture when the height of beauty is to be slowly dying of a horrific illness?
“Zombie” Votes (or, Voter Fraud and The Agency of the Dead)
It is no secret that Donald Trump has used death as a scare tactic throughout his campaign, and has continued to do so during his first month in office. Why does this tactic work so well? Because people are afraid of death.
Sex & Death: Santa Muerte’s Strong LGBT Following
Enduring discrimination and even persecution at times makes the fierce, female skeleton saint especially attractive to those who’ve been ostracized, taunted or even subjected to physical violence because of their alternative sexual orientation. World leading expert on Santa Muerte, Andrew Chesnut has observed this special attraction from the outset of his research eight years ago. Introducing us to Arely Vazquez, pioneering Santa Muertista in New York City we gain insight into how influential the skinny lady can be in the face of adversity and through times of change.
Bluebeard & the Final Girl: Feminist Retellings of Perrault’s Classic
Sonya Vatomsky is here to examine the myth of Bluebeard, Perrault’s text as a canonical work, is in dire need of retelling. Culturally, Bluebeard has found itself linked more to temptation/knowledge narratives like the Garden of Eden and Pandora’s Box than to narratives of heroic escape from monstrous kings and ogres. This in itself is an interpretation rather than a fact; in a society absent victim-blaming, Sonya asks what would we instead learn from Bluebeard?
The Cowardice of Captain Stinson versus the Courage of Captain Sands
This week, writer Gill Hoffs shares an excerpt from her book The Lost Story of the William and Mary: The Cowardice of Captain Stinson. Taking us back to the May of 1853 when it took many, many hours and several journeys to evacuate the emigrants abandoned by the William and Mary’s murderous captain and crew on a sinking ship in the middle of the Bahamas. It is hard to imagine the scene, the horrors hidden as the ocean takes hold and the hardships those rescued face once safely ashore.
On Death, Patriarchy & the Anti-Choice Movement
Death-phobia pervades many a political and social movement, but few have perfected the manipulation of it quite as adeptly as the “pro-life movement.” Their rhetoric invokes death at almost every turn. Aside from the most blatant messaging which explicitly likens abortion to murder, they also invoke death-phobia in the way they legislate abortion. Caroline Reilly is here to tell us more.
