Glorifying double mastectomies - museum exhibition

[BristolW0man]

Artwork on prominent display that glorifies double mastectomies - part of 'Gender Stories' exhibition. This in Bristol's free of charge museum, popular with families and school trips. All funded with the public purse via National Lottery and Arts Council England.

I don't think this should be on display for all to see (different if it's a separate area, but this is in the main hall of the museum) and I certainly don't think public money should be paying for it. AIBU?

https://x.com/JamesEsses/status/1928346229181739240

There are many visually disturbing artistic depictions of mental illness displayed in galleries all over the world. Art is an important medium to convey emotion between people on ways words cannot.

Is it all despairing human emotions you have a problem with being depicted in art or just the pain of transgender people? Do you want van Gough and his self mutilated ear portrait taking down or Tracy Emins profanity covered self portraits depicting her mental struggles removed from public viewing? Or is their pain and self harm acceptable for public consumption because it isn't related to gender questioning individuals?

Of course it is! That's why people who have a problem with transgender people can't just throw a tantrum and expect a whole exhibit to be taken down!

Yes. I’d be fine with an art exhibition showing things I don’t personally agree with. Who decides what is acceptable? Mumsnet? The Government? Or, do we allow organisations to choose what they show, and let people vote with their feet? Remember, the next time it may well be something you agree being censored, you happy with that?

This is really disturbing, would you have any other art celebrating people surgically removing healthy body parts?

Teenage girls, especially autistic teenage girls are often very uncomfortable with change/transitions and their developing bodies - and often feel like they are not the same/don't fit in with their female peers. No one should be publicly suggesting/implying that removing their breasts and becoming a boy is a solution to this.

I think what is most disturbing is that it has been done in such a bright, child/teen friendly looking way - Van Gough's 'Self Portrait with a bandaged ear' is not in this league and Tracey Emin's work comes with an advisory warning when necessary. There is literally no comparison.

You seem to be agreeing that the women who undertake these double mastectomies are mentally unwell?

Do you think that all ‘transgender people’ suffer pain? Genuine question.

I agree. So whats the problem?

It's a picasso-esque portrait of a person with lots of zany colours, third eye imagery and make up/tattoos. The person also mastectomy scars which are not the focal point of the piece at all, they just happen to be there and I actually wouldn't have noticed them if I wasn't looking for them. Google it.

It's not horrific graphic photographs like people are making out.

There’s plenty of art I don’t like, but it doesn’t stop it from being art. If you want to make art that offers a different perspective on trans issues then make some 🤷‍♀️
Whatever you think of people having double mastectomies, they ARE having them. This is a significant thing that is happening in our times. If you don’t want your children to see it then don’t take them to see it.

Nonsense - there’s a big difference between depicting inner pain, and celebrating a contentious ideology. Would you be keen on an exhibition about mental illness that glorified lobotomies? Or an exhibit of celebratory pictures and writings about how it’s great for able-bodied people to “identify” as disabled? Perhaps an exhibition in which Van Gogh is described as a “transabled” person who knew his inner identity was as a disabled person with an amputated ear, who anticipated the modern movement of “transableism”? (I’m not making this up as just a thought experiment: there actually is such a thing as “transableism”.)

Or might you think that was (a) of dubious historical merit; (b) politically pretty contentious and not a great thing to normalise to vulnerable people with mental health issues; (c) pretty offensive to people who were born disabled or have become disabled with serious medical issues?

I think you know that the difference is that nobody celebrates Van Gogh slicing off his ear in the way that mentally ill young women are celebrated when they slice off their healthy breasts. This is a glorification, celebration and normalisation of extreme self harm by self-loathing young women, in a free museum aimed at families.

Just how is it Art?

Isn’t it astonishing that a forum aimed at mothers seems to have so many women happy with mentally ill young women being so failed that they end up amputating healthy body parts to calm their troubled minds. And for images celebrating that to on display for all, including children, to see.

The support this is getting makes for some of the most disturbing posts I’ve ever seen on MN.

Awful!

Maybe the depictions of male groins with penises chopped off are in a different museum? I don’t have a well developed view on this but I know that what-about-ery is not the way to go.

No I don't agree that's trans men are mentally unwell. I agree that people who are covered in self harm scars are mentally unwell which is what I was referring to in the post I replied to.

The person who created this art clearly feels pain, since when was every person in a group feeling pain the qualifying factor of whether people in that group are allowed to make and share art about their lived experiences?

This. It is art.

I find it very odd that a depiction of a lived experience is automatically "celebrating" that experience in your eyes to be honest.

No, not abuse but has just had an adult diagnosis of ASD. Family history of mental health added to that I guess.

I think you know that stating that a certain group in society are not allowed to share art of their lived experiences because you personally have a problem with it is censorship and censorship has no place in a modern democratic society.

I also think your description of trans gender men is quite revolting.

As the mother of a 15 year old who is having trouble accepting she is a girl and who hates their breasts (and I suspect is going to ask to start binding soon) this would not be healthy for her to see.

Extreme body modification when ears and fingers etc are cut off for no medical reason is generally seen as "problematic" for most people. Why is removing healthy breasts different?

That's fine, don't take her to see it then.

There are many things that aren't healthy for lots of people to see due to certain personal circumstances, you just avoid them and move on.

You don't demand that the rest of society can't see them either.

No part of society needs to see this 🙄

If it's not a mental illness, what is it?

Prior to hormones and surgery their bodies are as healthy as any other person's. The problem is a psychological one.

So how is it not a mental illness?

That is your opinion.

If people feels the need to make the art, and other people feels the need to go and view it, then yes it needs to be seen.

You can't decide for everyone that they don't need to see it because you personally don't like it.

Of course you need to see it this way. If you don't, you'll have to face the fact you're in agreement with the mutilation of healthy bodies as treatment for mental illness or distress. I too am very close to young adults who claim Non-binary and Trans status and in no way do I accept this 'treatment' as a healthy way to address their pain. Their claimed identities are very clearly a maladaptive coping mechanism, not a way to stay alive despite that narrative that is fully proven false based on all collected evidence (Cass Report, and numerous other studies in different countries).

And I do everything I can to keep them from further harming their bodies because I love them more than I love my ego.