Strings attached
Performance artist's period piece might make men pause
Pulse Online 06/15/07

Hanalei Ramos
"If men menstruated, tampons would be covered with gold, made of silk and they'd taste like candy," said Jersey City performance artist Hanalei Ramos.


We know what you're thinking — what would the world be like if men menstruated? OK, maybe that's not what you're thinking, but performance artist Hanalei Ramos of Jersey City has given the topic some thought.

The result will be on display during her one-women show, "Guns and Tampons: A History of Violence Against Women I Know" at the National Asian American Theater Festival in New York City this weekend.

"If men menstruated, tampons would be covered with gold, made of silk and they'd taste like candy," Ramos quipped. "Yet women feel they should be ashamed of (menstruating) even though it's a natural act."

Ramos sees the use of tampons as a subtle form of violance against women, and also indicative of a culture that condones that violance.

"Why do we need to wear tampons?" Ramos asked. "We wear tampons because the clothes that we wear don't allow us to use sanitary napkins. We have to wear cute skirts or tight pants."

"The idea is that (using tampons is a) subtle form of violence that women inflict upon themselves."

Domestic violence comes in many forms, Ramos said.

"When people think of domestic violence, they think of a women being beaten or a couple fighting with doors being slammed shut and it's taking place behind closed doors, that's the impression we get," Ramos said. "However, it doesn't explore the subtle ways the dynamic is applied in relationships between two people — not just heterosexual, a man beating a woman. This issue affects same-sex couples as well. It's about the many ways violance happens."

"Guns and Tampons" is a series of performance pieces inspired by women who were victims of domestic abuse. Of course, Ramos, 25, offers that there's a lot more going on with domestic abuse than just tampons. Our modern world has desensitized us to such an extent that our hard-wiring has become screwed up.

Pain has become love, as Jah Rule noted.
"Society is so removed from emotion, so it focuses on other things," Ramos said. "We begin to confuse or misunderstand pain as love, and passion with fighting or arguing with your partner. These are messages that we get from society, and it's made a large impact on 20somethings."

Chris Jordan can be reached at (732) 565-7275 or cjordan@thnt.com