This week ushers in a new presidential administration, and with it, a threat to Planned Parenthood, the Affordable Care Act, and the abortion rights granted by Roe v. Wade. Many famous folks are voicing their dismay on Twitter and in award show speeches. Rose McGowan, however, decided to make a film.
The former Charmed star is working behind the camera these days. Beginning today, her latest piece, Woman's Womb, will join New York City's Untitled Space Gallery's latest group exhibit, Uprise / Angry Women, an artist reaction to Donald Trump and the current political climate.
In a preview for Dazed, McGowan described Trump's election as a "massive war on women that’s been sanctioned and approved by voters." In response, she created Woman's Womb, a short film inspired by the story of Purvi Patel, an Indian woman living in Indiana who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide after using abortion drugs to self-terminate her pregnancy.
McGowan used her own menstrual blood to capture Patel's physical experience.
"I actually used some of my own blood, put hydrogen peroxide in it, bubbled it up, filmed it, and then had a lovely Indian model in something that looks womb-like work her way out of it," she explained. "The black bars on the side of the frame represent how society squeezes women, squeezes their rights."
She also defended her right to be angry about calls to overturn Roe v. Wade, which turns 45 on January 20, the day Trump becomes president.
"If you're not angry then there's some problem with you," she told Dazed. "There's a lot to be angry about."
Watch Woman's Womb below.
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