0:00:14.347,0:00:17.377
Hello, Manchester.[br]I'm so happy to be here.

0:00:17.904,0:00:20.474
(Responses) (Cheers)

0:00:21.081,0:00:22.998
My name is Sophia Wallace.

0:00:23.038,0:00:24.081
I'm an artist.

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And I'm here today[br]to share with you a project

0:00:26.847,0:00:29.218
that I hope will empower you personally,

0:00:29.251,0:00:31.824
and by extension those that you love,

0:00:31.858,0:00:34.553
especially if they have a clitoris.

0:00:34.573,0:00:35.919
(Cheers)

0:00:38.617,0:00:40.147
(Laughter)

0:00:41.729,0:00:42.776
To make this work,

0:00:42.806,0:00:46.314
I have to talk about[br]independent female desire.

0:00:46.344,0:00:48.958
I have to speak about a universal taboo -

0:00:48.988,0:00:50.553
female genitals.

0:00:50.688,0:00:52.327
This is not easy.

0:00:53.918,0:00:55.995
It taints the speaker.

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I want to thank TEDxSalford

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for having me here[br]and hosting this conversation.

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All bodies are entitled[br]to experience the pleasure

0:01:10.029,0:01:11.803
that they are capable of.

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This is a core pillar of cliteracy.

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In making this work,

0:01:18.054,0:01:20.312
I had to say that the clitoris,

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first, as an organ, has a right to being,

0:01:23.942,0:01:28.446
and that this right[br]is not just about not being cut off.

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Sadly, to this day,

0:01:30.338,0:01:32.008
over a 140 million women

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have had their external[br]clitorises cut off.

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This doesn't make it[br]into the news very often,

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and this doesn't come up[br]in foreign policy discussion.

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So number one,

0:01:41.804,0:01:46.184
the clitoris has a right to exist,[br]free of harm, like any other organ.

0:01:46.340,0:01:49.521
But secondly, I argue with cliteracy

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that the clitoris has a right to pleasure,

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and this is part[br]of its primary right of being.

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How is it possible[br]that we landed on the Moon

0:02:00.455,0:02:02.800
and walked around 29 years

0:02:02.830,0:02:05.957
before we discovered[br]the anatomy of the clitoris?

0:02:08.375,0:02:11.175
(Laughter)

0:02:11.430,0:02:16.263
We actually cloned sheep,[br]identified the Higgs boson particle,

0:02:16.283,0:02:19.270
and only discovered[br]the clitoris 29 years ago.

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Unfortunately, this discovery[br]has not been adopted,

0:02:22.616,0:02:26.409
so most people don't know[br]the actual anatomy of the clitoris.

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The clitoris is not a button.[br]It is an iceberg.

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Like many in the room[br]who are hearing this for the first time,

0:02:37.225,0:02:38.426
I was shocked to find out

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that I didn't know the actual anatomy[br]of half of the population,

0:02:42.369,0:02:44.488
that I didn't know my own anatomy.

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In fact, the clitoris is not a button,[br]it is like an iceberg.

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Most of the organ is internal.

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This slide is an anatomical example

0:02:54.978,0:02:58.271
of the penis and the clitoris[br]side by side.

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Now, we've all been taught

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that male bodies[br]and female bodies are opposites:

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the male body sort of sticks out,[br]the female body is solely internal.

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Well, in fact,

0:03:09.169,0:03:13.023
there're so many similarities[br]between the penis and the clitoris.

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So, if you'll see,

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both the glans and -

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The glans of the penis[br]and the glans of the clitoris -

0:03:19.499,0:03:21.129
both organs have a glans.

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There are 3000 nerves[br]in the glans of the penis.

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There are 8000 nerves[br]in the glans of the clitoris.

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Both organs have a corpus cavernosum.

0:03:29.523,0:03:34.100
Both organs have crura,[br]like two little legs or wings.

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Both organs have bulbs of erectile tissue.

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Both organs get erect.

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The penis is outside of the body mostly,

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and the clitoris[br]is inside the body mostly.

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That's the biggest difference.

0:03:44.950,0:03:46.426
In fact, they're very similar.

0:03:46.441,0:03:49.342
Actually, fetuses have the same tissue,

0:03:49.359,0:03:53.191
and in boys it develops as a penis,[br]in girls it develops as a clitoris.

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Some people have small penises,[br]some people have very large clitorises.

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If one has a clitoris[br]and takes testosterone,

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their clitoris can expand.

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What I'm saying is that[br]these organs are actually quite similar.

0:04:04.936,0:04:08.403
And, while we are different,[br]while we are unique as men and women,

0:04:08.420,0:04:11.741
our differences[br]are not a sign of opposition.

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In fact, we're related to each other,[br]we're connected.

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And that's an exciting fact.

0:04:21.478,0:04:24.005
With cliteracy, I started with language.

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Language has been a place

0:04:25.266,0:04:28.065
that so much of sort of[br]the division of men and women

0:04:28.087,0:04:31.796
and the subjugation of women has been[br]entrenched with the language itself.

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'Vagina' - the single most misused word[br]in the English language.

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This is one of the laws of cliteracy.

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It's intentionally hyperbolic.

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But unfortunately, it's more true[br]than I wish it was.

0:04:43.406,0:04:47.103
'Vagina' is a Latin word.[br]It means 'sword holder'.

0:04:47.915,0:04:50.905
(Laughter)

0:04:54.143,0:04:58.399
Vagina, medically, technically,[br]only includes the opening.

0:04:59.125,0:05:02.282
This term is used almost universally[br]in doctor's offices.

0:05:02.306,0:05:05.852
It's also used in feminism[br]to sort of advocate.

0:05:05.880,0:05:08.885
But it's a term that ignores the clitoris,

0:05:08.908,0:05:11.221
which is the female sexual organ.

0:05:11.422,0:05:16.232
And secondly, it reduces the female body[br]to being a receptacle, a sword holder.

0:05:16.643,0:05:19.780
If you want to use a term[br]that addresses all the female genitals,

0:05:19.806,0:05:22.415
both the reproductive[br]and the sexual parts of it,

0:05:22.434,0:05:24.127
the word is 'vulva'.

0:05:24.484,0:05:26.362
This is a word that almost no one uses,

0:05:26.382,0:05:29.911
but this is the word if you want to[br]talk about female genitals - vulva.

0:05:29.933,0:05:34.504
If you want to talk about pleasure,[br]'clitoris' is the term.

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The clitoris is both[br]internal and external.

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So, when the clitoris is engaged,

0:05:39.700,0:05:41.271
internal stimulation feels great.

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If the clitoris is not engaged,[br]it can feel not great,

0:05:44.106,0:05:45.247
or it can feel painful.

0:05:45.281,0:05:47.616
It's all about what's happening[br]with the clitoris.

0:05:47.652,0:05:49.398
If it was about the vagina,

0:05:49.428,0:05:52.540
there would be so many nerves[br]that childbirth would be impossible.

0:05:52.570,0:05:54.428
There're very few nerves in the vagina.

0:05:54.458,0:05:57.425
All of the nerves inside[br]are from the internal clitoris,

0:05:57.438,0:06:01.085
which gets stimulated[br]both from external and internal portions.

0:06:03.713,0:06:05.922
With cliteracy I felt that -

0:06:05.943,0:06:07.706
Yes, language has been this way

0:06:07.736,0:06:10.106
of restricting and confining[br]the female body,

0:06:10.126,0:06:12.014
but if language can do these thing,

0:06:12.035,0:06:15.177
it can also liberate,[br]it can also be expansive.

0:06:15.199,0:06:17.559
It's also an opportunity to come together.

0:06:17.793,0:06:22.638
And so I sought to use language[br]as a way to shift the discourse

0:06:22.661,0:06:25.719
and create new space and more alignment.

0:06:28.755,0:06:31.698
With cliteracy,[br]I first began with the term,

0:06:31.715,0:06:33.629
and then a definition of the term,

0:06:33.659,0:06:35.204
and then an eye chart.

0:06:35.374,0:06:36.800
The aesthetics of this project

0:06:36.835,0:06:39.183
were also extremely[br]important and intentional.

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I avoided any kind of pink and purple;

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I didn't use flowers;

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I didn't use any fabric or yarn,

0:06:47.014,0:06:49.226
anything soft and fluffy.

0:06:49.257,0:06:53.275
I also didn't make any small works[br]that you could hold in your hand

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or eat off of like plates.

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I also intentionally avoided[br]any kind of sexual imagery,

0:06:58.949,0:07:03.097
any kind of graphic, close-up,[br]literal depictions.

0:07:03.115,0:07:06.858
I think that everywhere we see[br]the exposed female body,

0:07:06.877,0:07:11.199
and yet we don't know the actual[br]female sexual organ, the clitoris.

0:07:11.245,0:07:13.354
So showing it is not the point, right?

0:07:13.376,0:07:14.880
Understanding it is the point.

0:07:14.928,0:07:17.773
Literacy of it, knowledge[br]of it is the point.

0:07:18.800,0:07:20.390
[The hole is not the whole]

0:07:20.407,0:07:22.977
(Laughter)

0:07:22.997,0:07:25.010
The hole is not the whole.

0:07:25.037,0:07:27.333
With cliteracy I had a lot of fun[br]with word-play.

0:07:27.373,0:07:29.435
There was just so much[br]material to work with

0:07:29.465,0:07:31.422
and so much to talk about.

0:07:34.175,0:07:37.096
I also am making[br]the radical claim with cliteracy

0:07:37.115,0:07:39.021
that we can't truly be free

0:07:39.049,0:07:40.589
if our bodies are assailed.

0:07:40.619,0:07:45.063
We can't truly be fully[br]enjoying our democracy

0:07:45.084,0:07:46.813
when half of the population

0:07:46.833,0:07:50.084
can't speak about their own body,[br]is censored when they say the words

0:07:50.119,0:07:51.646
because these words are taboo,

0:07:51.664,0:07:54.504
or are regularly having sex[br]without orgasms.

0:07:54.537,0:07:56.355
And we don't talk about this.

0:07:56.517,0:08:00.188
I'm making the radical claim[br]that freedom in society

0:08:00.221,0:08:02.716
can also be measured[br]by the distribution of orgasms.

0:08:02.745,0:08:04.651
This could be one indicator that we use

0:08:04.662,0:08:09.872
when we look at education,[br]access to health care,

0:08:11.235,0:08:12.235
economics.

0:08:12.265,0:08:15.470
We could also say: How[br]are orgasms being distributed?

0:08:15.490,0:08:18.153
That tells us something about a society.

0:08:20.625,0:08:22.446
There is no lack.

0:08:22.640,0:08:23.658
Truly.

0:08:24.081,0:08:27.399
Freud invented the paradigm[br]of the phallus versus the lack.

0:08:27.416,0:08:31.748
He said that men have the phallus,[br]they have the penis, they have agency;

0:08:31.772,0:08:36.029
women have a lack,[br]they have a vagina, they have a void.

0:08:36.450,0:08:38.634
In fact, Freud was wrong,

0:08:38.883,0:08:41.789
the vagina is not the female[br]sexual organ, it is the clitoris.

0:08:41.809,0:08:46.192
There is no lack, none of us have lack,[br]none of us are lacking, we're all whole.

0:08:47.513,0:08:53.134
And none of us need to be depicted[br]in terms solely of a void.

0:08:54.657,0:08:57.367
[Girls are taught it's normal[br]for sex to hurt. Phallusy.]

0:08:57.400,0:09:01.889
In many ways, all of us have had[br]a psychological clitoridectomy

0:09:01.917,0:09:04.539
because the clitoris is never taught.

0:09:05.358,0:09:10.608
In sex education it is taught that[br]boys are both sexual and reproductive,

0:09:10.639,0:09:14.396
boys have erections, boys have wet dreams,

0:09:14.725,0:09:16.153
boys ejaculate,

0:09:16.163,0:09:18.794
and then the semen fertilizes the egg.

0:09:19.414,0:09:23.294
Girls, we're taught,[br]have reproductive organs,

0:09:23.322,0:09:27.026
they menstruate, menstruation is painful.

0:09:27.136,0:09:30.533
Girls should not get pregnant[br]if they don't mean to.

0:09:30.561,0:09:33.056
Girls should not get[br]sexually transmitted diseases.

0:09:33.081,0:09:34.700
We never learn about the clitoris.

0:09:34.710,0:09:36.714
We never learn that girls have desire,

0:09:36.748,0:09:38.389
that this is natural,

0:09:38.855,0:09:42.244
that girls have sexual dreams,[br]that girls have fantasies.

0:09:43.235,0:09:49.247
So already, as a culture,[br]I would say we all have clitoridectomies.

0:09:51.614,0:09:54.749
'Clitoris, say my name, say my name.'

0:09:54.875,0:09:56.993
I really enjoyed using word-play

0:09:57.044,0:10:01.394
and putting the clitoris[br]into popular culture and song lyrics.

0:10:01.635,0:10:06.992
So much of popular culture, music -[br]the female genitals are kind of riffed on

0:10:07.022,0:10:09.462
but almost always in a negative way.

0:10:09.650,0:10:11.849
If you want to humiliate a man,

0:10:12.096,0:10:14.882
call him a word[br]for female genitals, right?

0:10:15.035,0:10:18.150
But this is also an opportunity,[br]you can just pop in the clit,

0:10:18.190,0:10:20.859
and suddenly the whole song changes;[br]it's very powerful.

0:10:20.880,0:10:22.610
So, this is a Destiny's Child song,

0:10:22.642,0:10:25.091
there're many more[br]in the Laws of Cliteracy

0:10:25.111,0:10:28.144
like 'Ain't no half-stepping to the clit,'

0:10:28.659,0:10:31.004
'Sleeping on the clit? That shit cray',

0:10:31.019,0:10:32.412
which it is.

0:10:34.751,0:10:38.288
Here's an example from looking below[br]at the 100 Laws of Cliteracy.

0:10:38.308,0:10:43.397
So this work spans 13 feet long[br]by 10 feet tall.

0:10:43.603,0:10:45.344
It dwarfs anyone's body.

0:10:45.556,0:10:48.943
When I first showed this work,[br]I had no idea what the response would be.

0:10:48.974,0:10:51.225
Of course, I was hoping[br]it would be positive,

0:10:51.242,0:10:52.355
but I didn't know.

0:10:52.375,0:10:57.874
And I have to say, I was overwhelmed[br]with the way audiences responded.

0:10:57.895,0:11:00.201
They really wanted[br]to have this conversation.

0:11:00.229,0:11:02.702
They would stay with the work[br]for 15 minutes.

0:11:02.727,0:11:04.827
I would come back,[br]they would still be there,

0:11:04.847,0:11:06.469
they would have friends with them.

0:11:06.494,0:11:09.298
And I felt like this work was needed.

0:11:09.615,0:11:12.257
I was invited to speak about it a lot,

0:11:12.289,0:11:14.848
and I was also contacted privately.

0:11:14.874,0:11:16.526
People shared secrets with me,

0:11:16.557,0:11:20.399
people told me for the first time[br]they didn't feel ashamed about their body,

0:11:20.424,0:11:23.448
or they went home with this knowledge

0:11:23.474,0:11:26.379
and are having a great time[br]with their girlfriend,

0:11:26.389,0:11:28.149
and wanted to thank me for that.

0:11:28.179,0:11:29.896
So this was extremely gratifying.

0:11:29.916,0:11:33.645
I think for me, what made me feel[br]like I was onto something

0:11:33.663,0:11:37.356
was that such a diverse group of people[br]supported this project:

0:11:37.825,0:11:43.163
men and women, young and old,[br]religious and secular, queer and straight.

0:11:44.373,0:11:47.795
So many people came together[br]to support this project.

0:11:48.044,0:11:53.464
And I was contacted by people[br]from as far as New Zealand, Egypt, Brazil,

0:11:53.491,0:11:56.206
saying: 'How can we help you[br]with this project?

0:11:56.220,0:12:00.020
Can you translate this project[br]into Arabic or into Portuguese,

0:12:00.050,0:12:02.379
like, we need this here in our country.'

0:12:03.752,0:12:08.505
I wanted cliteracy to go everywhere,[br]but I didn't know how to do that yet,

0:12:08.530,0:12:10.235
and I'm still figuring that out.

0:12:10.252,0:12:11.587
But I know that it's needed.

0:12:11.607,0:12:14.839
And I know that it can't just stay[br]within the walls of the art world.

0:12:16.269,0:12:19.982
I don't consider myself a street artist,[br]but I began making work on the street

0:12:19.997,0:12:22.543
for the same reason[br]that I think a lot of artist do -

0:12:22.563,0:12:24.862
I wanted to communicate more broadly.

0:12:28.515,0:12:32.779
This is an example from a documentary[br]of just me putting up some pieces.

0:12:32.804,0:12:35.541
These are prints[br]that I made on a news print,

0:12:35.551,0:12:39.127
then I'm putting them up with wheat paste[br]just like old posters were put up.

0:12:39.287,0:12:41.280
I'm just doing this in Brooklyn.

0:12:41.682,0:12:44.384
Some people like to do street art[br]at the night time,

0:12:44.399,0:12:47.156
I do it in the day[br]because I feel like it's a little safer,

0:12:47.360,0:12:49.728
the anonymity of the crowd in New York.

0:12:49.883,0:12:51.257
So far so good.

0:12:52.324,0:12:54.606
And one of the cool things[br]about doing street art

0:12:54.646,0:12:56.604
is that people will comment on your work.

0:12:56.614,0:12:58.857
Sometimes they cross it out or destroy it,

0:12:58.877,0:13:01.808
but other times[br]they put their art on top of it.

0:13:01.838,0:13:03.849
And in this case that happened.

0:13:03.880,0:13:06.588
Again, like when I showed[br]the work in the gallery,

0:13:06.608,0:13:08.545
on the street there was a big response,

0:13:08.568,0:13:09.851
people would photograph it,

0:13:09.881,0:13:11.931
they would post it[br]on Twitter and Instagram.

0:13:11.944,0:13:14.083
And it felt like I was talking[br]about something

0:13:14.093,0:13:15.570
that needed to be talked about,

0:13:15.600,0:13:18.560
that the project was needed[br]and people were grateful to find it

0:13:18.689,0:13:20.845
and to keep pushing it out there more.

0:13:23.741,0:13:29.332
Doing the street work emboldened me[br]to take on even crazier ideas

0:13:29.360,0:13:31.822
that I never thought[br]I would find myself doing.

0:13:32.297,0:13:38.322
And I actually, together with an artist[br]named Clit Eastwood, or Ken Thomas,

0:13:38.350,0:13:41.770
held the world's first-ever[br]clit rodeo last summer.

0:13:42.397,0:13:45.317
We created a rideable golden clit.

0:13:45.347,0:13:47.340
(Laughter)

0:13:47.370,0:13:50.196
And we held the first clit rodeo.

0:13:50.471,0:13:53.469
And, you know, there[br]were two rules to the rodeo.

0:13:53.509,0:13:55.958
Basically, one: respect the clit.

0:13:56.088,0:13:57.188
Respect it.

0:13:57.219,0:13:58.134
Two: have fun.

0:13:58.153,0:13:59.714
Those were the rules.

0:13:59.946,0:14:04.721
We had so many riders who wanted to ride,[br]more than we could host for our event.

0:14:04.833,0:14:08.106
But the riders were judged[br]on three categories:

0:14:08.135,0:14:11.392
dexterity, style and generosity.

0:14:11.652,0:14:13.893
And they were really[br]good riders, I have to say.

0:14:13.923,0:14:16.150
I was worried that it might[br]get a little boring

0:14:16.180,0:14:19.127
because as you saw on the previous slide,[br]it was just a spring.

0:14:19.147,0:14:21.480
But people were reading[br]erotica to the clit,

0:14:21.522,0:14:25.363
someone did a striptease for the clit,[br]someone surfed the clit,

0:14:25.392,0:14:28.487
someone offered a cigarette to the clit,[br]and then, like -

0:14:28.509,0:14:31.889
There was a couple where[br]the woman was nine-months-pregnant;

0:14:31.919,0:14:32.928
she was riding,

0:14:32.938,0:14:37.136
and her husband was in the background[br]as her backup dancer, dancing around ...

0:14:37.252,0:14:40.425
So, it was way better[br]than I ever expected.

0:14:42.000,0:14:45.161
I just was thrilled because[br]the clit was the star of the show.

0:14:45.185,0:14:46.354
Finally!

0:14:49.262,0:14:52.001
I've always wanted cliteracy[br]to be in the public space,

0:14:52.025,0:14:55.872
to be at large scale,[br]to be seen over time,

0:14:55.905,0:14:58.297
not to have to be hidden away[br]or be a secret.

0:14:58.335,0:15:00.934
And I had the opportunity last fall.

0:15:00.955,0:15:06.234
Together with Center and Santa Fe we[br]put up a 35 feet billboard of cliteracy,

0:15:06.273,0:15:07.858
or 11 metre billboard.

0:15:07.998,0:15:09.063
The text says:

0:15:09.093,0:15:11.907
'Democracy without cliteracy - phallusy'.

0:15:12.223,0:15:14.134
And I was thrilled to do this,

0:15:14.422,0:15:16.630
especially because where it was[br]on this highway

0:15:16.660,0:15:19.643
is travelled by such[br]a broad range of people,

0:15:19.668,0:15:25.913
from long-haul truck drivers[br]to art collectors and everyone in between.

0:15:26.229,0:15:28.694
The billboard company[br]was a little bit less psyched

0:15:28.714,0:15:31.195
about how much feedback[br]they got about the billboard,

0:15:31.225,0:15:32.613
but I thought this was great.

0:15:32.643,0:15:34.927
A lot of people were like:[br]'What are you selling?

0:15:34.967,0:15:36.273
I don't understand.'

0:15:37.573,0:15:41.479
I actually got a call that I'll never[br]forget from a mom, saying:

0:15:41.708,0:15:44.129
'I have to drive this route[br]with my son every day,

0:15:44.165,0:15:46.405
and I don't know what to tell him.'

0:15:48.120,0:15:51.414
But I was thrilled because she's going[br]to talk to him about cliteracy,

0:15:51.434,0:15:53.815
and this is something[br]that he needs to know about.

0:15:55.995,0:15:58.072
Cliteracy needs more than text though,

0:15:58.092,0:16:00.906
and I always knew that[br]I wanted to explore the form as well.

0:16:00.936,0:16:03.974
None of us know this form, right?[br]I didn't know this form.

0:16:04.136,0:16:05.383
So I set about making

0:16:05.383,0:16:09.175
the world's first anatomically correct[br]sculpture of the clitoris.

0:16:09.209,0:16:11.877
And this was something[br]that was actually quite hard to do

0:16:11.897,0:16:14.973
because there are so few accurate[br]representations of the anatomy.

0:16:14.993,0:16:19.930
And when you find[br]these very few drawings or scans,

0:16:19.961,0:16:22.996
they contradict each other,[br]they don't make sense.

0:16:23.194,0:16:27.978
So, it was actually not that easy to do,[br]but I set about making this form.

0:16:30.877,0:16:36.373
With the form I wanted to not only[br]explore the anatomy and get it accurate,

0:16:36.406,0:16:41.268
but I also wanted to show[br]the gesture of beauty of this organ

0:16:41.309,0:16:43.287
and the gracefulness of it.

0:16:47.359,0:16:51.684
Here is the first sculpture that I know of[br]of the anatomically correct clitoris.

0:16:51.712,0:16:55.175
It's six feet tall and five feet wide.

0:16:55.360,0:16:59.373
And I wanted to create an iconic form

0:17:00.215,0:17:03.968
of this unseen organ half of us have,

0:17:03.996,0:17:07.429
all of us were born through the body[br]of someone that has a clitoris.

0:17:07.459,0:17:11.199
Everyone in this room was born through[br]the body of someone that has a clitoris.

0:17:11.229,0:17:13.427
So all of us have been touched[br]by the clitoris.

0:17:13.447,0:17:15.755
This is universal[br]and yet we don't know about it.

0:17:15.775,0:17:18.359
So I wanted to create[br]an iconic form that's memorable,

0:17:18.390,0:17:20.850
that puts this into our consciousness.

0:17:22.605,0:17:26.250
And I hope that finally this form[br]would be treated with honour and respect

0:17:26.278,0:17:28.127
and not be treated as obscene.

0:17:28.151,0:17:29.631
I think it's a beautiful form,

0:17:29.661,0:17:31.758
and I didn't know it,

0:17:31.778,0:17:34.638
but once I saw it,[br]it started to feel familiar in this way.

0:17:34.667,0:17:38.470
And I started to see it around[br]in the natural world, in plants.

0:17:38.496,0:17:41.800
I also saw it in engravings,[br]on architectural sites.

0:17:41.837,0:17:44.665
I saw it in weavings[br]of oriental tapestries.

0:17:44.695,0:17:46.272
I started to see it around.

0:17:46.292,0:17:48.321
And that was very exciting.

0:17:48.425,0:17:51.550
And the form is interesting[br]not strictly as a sculpture,

0:17:51.580,0:17:54.376
but in patterns.

0:17:54.617,0:17:56.095
There's something very exciting

0:17:56.115,0:18:00.063
about looking into the power of the small,[br]the power of multiplicity.

0:18:00.087,0:18:03.777
Instead of creating just[br]this singular superior object,

0:18:03.813,0:18:06.153
what about putting[br]all these tiny beautiful forms

0:18:06.193,0:18:09.055
that together form a baby-clit army.

0:18:09.078,0:18:10.626
The one on the right,

0:18:10.656,0:18:11.655
(Laughter)

0:18:11.675,0:18:13.298
I call it 'Fleur-de-clits',

0:18:13.318,0:18:16.876
and the one on the left[br]was later used in the intervention

0:18:16.906,0:18:18.477
at the Whitney Museum.

0:18:19.376,0:18:22.581
So here's a sort of subversive[br]clit army coming together

0:18:22.601,0:18:25.524
to make the 'Fleur-de-clit',[br]which is this beautiful pattern.

0:18:25.552,0:18:27.945
But unfortunately,[br]if some people knew what it was,

0:18:27.975,0:18:29.363
it wouldn't be allowed to be.

0:18:29.383,0:18:32.011
And that's sort of the rub of it.

0:18:32.671,0:18:36.690
Here is an example of more[br]clit forms and patterns that I created.

0:18:36.720,0:18:38.773
This is a clit damask pattern

0:18:38.787,0:18:42.934
with clit forms burnished onto wood.

0:18:42.960,0:18:45.275
On the left is a new sculpture.

0:18:45.807,0:18:49.123
So, this is the first sketch[br]of an invisible clit sculpture.

0:18:49.148,0:18:50.804
It's the same digital form

0:18:50.823,0:18:53.632
that I used to make the gold sculpture[br]I just showed to you.

0:18:53.653,0:18:55.585
But this exists in the negative space.

0:18:55.615,0:18:58.586
So I used the laser[br]to actually cut out the form

0:18:58.622,0:19:00.277
from clear plexiglass.

0:19:00.297,0:19:04.512
And so this invisible sculpture[br]addresses the fact

0:19:04.540,0:19:09.004
that this is omnipresent,[br]and yet it's negated, it's invisible,

0:19:09.034,0:19:11.118
it's not allowed to be spoken of.

0:19:12.559,0:19:15.383
I also continued[br]with this idea of negation

0:19:15.406,0:19:17.653
and using the laser to burn away

0:19:17.676,0:19:19.968
with laser-cut works on paper.

0:19:22.424,0:19:25.270
And I developed a brand new technology.

0:19:25.306,0:19:27.251
You might not have heard about it,

0:19:27.282,0:19:28.601
but it's very cutting edge.

0:19:28.631,0:19:30.169
I'll try to explain.

0:19:30.321,0:19:33.729
It's called 'clitglass',[br]and the way that it works -

0:19:33.749,0:19:35.103
anyone can wear it;

0:19:35.128,0:19:39.267
anyone who wants neutral vision[br]can wear a clitglass.

0:19:39.287,0:19:41.652
So you put on the clitglass,

0:19:41.985,0:19:44.823
and you look through[br]the perspective of the clit.

0:19:44.955,0:19:48.888
And the clit refracts[br]any kind of phallocentricacy

0:19:48.918,0:19:50.218
that's coming back at you.

0:19:50.251,0:19:54.364
And so you obtain neutral vision,[br]or what I like to call 'normal' vision.

0:19:54.387,0:19:55.397
(Laughter)

0:19:55.435,0:19:59.792
Now, you can use clitglass[br]at the Whitney Museum,

0:19:59.807,0:20:02.280
or you can use it at work,[br]in front of the TV,

0:20:02.305,0:20:04.197
even at a family reunion.

0:20:04.227,0:20:05.648
(Laughter)

0:20:05.674,0:20:09.542
This is an example of looking through[br]this cutting edge technology.

0:20:11.581,0:20:13.497
So those forms that I showed earlier,

0:20:13.519,0:20:17.114
I also played a game at my intervention[br]at the Whitney Museum,

0:20:17.148,0:20:20.056
called 'put a clit on it', or -

0:20:20.415,0:20:22.022
'clit-dazzle the Whitney'.

0:20:22.052,0:20:26.190
So basically I handed out[br]these unknown clit forms, and I said:

0:20:26.220,0:20:28.621
'Put the clit wherever[br]you think it needs to go -

0:20:28.647,0:20:30.569
put it as a subject in art history,

0:20:30.601,0:20:33.387
put into the designs,[br]put it on the American flag.

0:20:33.417,0:20:35.582
Whole country has a problem[br]with illcliteracy.

0:20:35.602,0:20:36.609
Help America out.

0:20:36.639,0:20:38.591
Just take the clit where it needs to go.'

0:20:38.626,0:20:43.271
So you can see on the lower left,[br]that's a Clitchtenstein.

0:20:44.333,0:20:47.114
On the lower right, Clitsper Johns.

0:20:49.303,0:20:52.356
This is the family at the Whitney Museum[br]during the intervention,

0:20:52.396,0:20:55.750
and the boy on the left[br]who looks to be about 11 years old,

0:20:55.777,0:20:57.209
at one point asks his mom -

0:20:57.226,0:21:00.936
they'd been wearing the clitglasses[br]for about 15 minutes, having a great time.

0:21:00.936,0:21:02.608
He was like, 'Mom, what's a clit?'

0:21:02.628,0:21:04.364
(Laughter)

0:21:04.394,0:21:08.006
And she said: 'Oh, it's a really sensitive[br]part of the woman's body.'

0:21:08.031,0:21:10.094
And he was like, 'Okay, cool.'

0:21:10.505,0:21:12.396
And I was thrilled because

0:21:12.425,0:21:15.050
one: he felt comfortable[br]asking the question;

0:21:15.073,0:21:17.849
two: his mom was supportive[br]and answered the question.

0:21:17.869,0:21:21.029
And it was totally normal -[br]nothing obscene, nothing secret,

0:21:21.059,0:21:25.079
no one had to be dragged out of the room,[br]no one had to be ashamed.

0:21:25.464,0:21:28.766
And that's what I'm hoping[br]that cliteracy can continue to do.

0:21:30.287,0:21:34.072
Overwhelmingly, the response[br]to cliteracy has been positive.

0:21:34.095,0:21:37.981
So many people have supported the project[br]and wanted to help with it.

0:21:38.002,0:21:41.859
And there've been a few institutions[br]who have courageously started showing it.

0:21:42.034,0:21:44.636
But there's so much more[br]that needs to be done.

0:21:47.486,0:21:51.854
My dream is to radically change[br]the way that we think about bodies

0:21:51.868,0:21:54.312
so that everyone's body is respected.

0:21:54.599,0:21:58.901
I want to do this by creating[br]large scale permanent public sculptures

0:21:58.924,0:22:01.779
that exist for thousands of years.

0:22:01.804,0:22:04.274
I want to work with metals and stone

0:22:04.307,0:22:07.317
so that these forms don't disappear[br]in future generations,

0:22:07.341,0:22:10.868
and we don't have to have[br]this conversation again and again.

0:22:12.978,0:22:17.041
Democracy without cliteracy is a phallusy.

0:22:19.564,0:22:22.610
I want cliteracy to be taught in schools

0:22:22.630,0:22:27.548
so that no child has[br]an unnameable part of their body.

0:22:27.995,0:22:31.697
The clit should be a starring role[br]in any bedroom that it's in.

0:22:32.161,0:22:34.841
And it shouldn't be censored[br]in the Parliament.

0:22:36.918,0:22:40.037
So, in closing, I want to ask you

0:22:40.284,0:22:41.792
to see the clit.

0:22:42.366,0:22:43.891
See it everywhere.

0:22:44.304,0:22:45.885
Don't stop seeing it.

0:22:46.102,0:22:47.702
And if you need help,

0:22:48.873,0:22:51.555
you can borrow[br]this pair of glasses from me.

0:22:52.614,0:22:55.309
And don't just stop with seeing it.

0:22:55.348,0:22:58.144
Say it. Say its name.

0:23:00.744,0:23:03.514
(Applause) (Cheers)

0:23:03.544,0:23:04.620
Thank you.

0:23:04.650,0:23:07.410
(Applause)