In a society fed by self doubt and notions of being perfect, loving oneself almost becomes an act of rebellion. This is what 17-year-old Brooklyn-based artist Mikhaila Nödel proclaims through her series ‘Cosmic Cuties’- that what any woman does with her body is really no one’s business but her own.
Nödel’s creations stems from her own negative experiences from her past as she shares, “I used to be extremely insecure and feminism really helped me get over that. I was bullied in Middle school and had really bad self-esteem problems, like most teenage girls, so I’ve been there. I don’t think anyone should go through that.”
It was initially conceived as a small blog on Tumblr, to bring in self-love into our daily routine, as many people are unhappy with what they see in the mirror. Nödel describes her creations as beings “born from space dust [that] slow down the universe and fight sexist crime.” Cosmic Cuties are all about accepting yourself and others; she explains, “If a woman doesn’t want to shave, that’s her choice! It really doesn’t affect anyone but herself. Stigma against menstruation, breastfeeding, and other natural bodily functions or features of bodies with vaginas are incredibly sexist, because they imply that the female body is something to be hidden or inherently ‘wrong’.” This negative view of the female body is reiterated through cultural mores, social prejudices and mass media’s preference for fair, slim female bodies. And negative body image can take a serious hit on one’s self-esteem. One of the outcomes is the constant scrutiny of a woman’s weight. It is ironic that Cosmic Cuties are actually plus size women. Nödel says, “I don’t believe that one should have to justify their weight-or anything else about their body for that matter-to anyone.”
What’s great is that Nödel engages with her Tumblr users and allows their feedback to shape her future course. The latest being the cissexist construction of gender and she shares, “My most recent work states that all women are real women, regardless of the gender they were assigned at birth. This includes women who don’t look traditionally feminine (i.e. trans women who never had top surgery or just women who have small breasts in general).” One fan raised the question of racial diversity-why Cosmic Cuties are white. “Just because the paper I use is white doesn’t mean they are all white,” is Nodel’s response.
Talking about feminism, she clarifies that it doesn’t have to be anti-male. “Just because I’m a feminist, it doesn’t mean that I hate men. I just don’t think that men have to be at the centre of attention all the time. To me, feminism is just the belief that all women should have equal rights. That’s it. You don’t have to be anything but someone who believes in equality to be a feminist,” she shares.
Well, for a 12th grader, Nödel’s maturity and understanding of complex gender issues is way beyond her years! Hope her work continues to spark many such meaningful gender discourses.
Image courtesy:Cosmic Cuties
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