The Modess Women
Women draped in haute couture and posed in aristocratic settings were the face of a successful ad campaign that peaked in 1950s magazines. The product was Modess sanitary napkins, and the popular slogan was “Modess…because.”
For the last two years, I’ve been working on images from a popular
mid-century advertising campaign for Modess sanitary napkins. The
ads showed women draped in haute couture and posed in aristocratic
settings above the slogan “Modess … because.” Beautiful as these images
of women and their designer dresses are, they are far from the body and
bleeding — sanitized, in a word.
My intent has been to reclaim women’s bodies, especially in these
politically charged times when ownership of one’s body is up for grabs.
My first impulse with the Modess women was to take them to the woods.
I placed them on the earth and in caves, and I incorporated rituals and
symbols — the egg, moon, and shell — which hold centuries of feminine
wisdom. Making this art was a ritual to release shame in the body and
bow to the power of the female body as transformer.
My studies with indigenous, earth-based cultures and my longtime
research on the iconography of the feminine inform much of my work.
I watch the marketing of feminine products and portrayal of women in
advertising with interest. Today, millennials employ the archetype of the
female warrior, calling upon strength, fight, blood. The pendulum swings.
These images of women were as far away from the body and bleeding as possible — in a word, they were “sanitized.”
My series of collages intends to reclaim women’s bodies, especially in our politically charged times when women’s rights are challenged and ownership of one’s body is up for “grabs.”
My first impulse was to take the Modess women into the woods. I placed them on the earth and in caves, incorporating symbols long associated with the feminine — the egg, moon, shell. The art-making was a ritual to release shame in the body and bow to the power of the female body as transformer.
My studies with indigenous, earth-based cultures, and my long-time research on the iconography of the feminine, informs much of my work. I watch the new marketing of feminine products and portrayal of women in advertising with interest. Now, millennials employ the archetype of the female warrior, calling upon strength, fight, blood. The pendulum swings.
Nadine Boughton (July, 2017)
