Quint, Chella

For a century, disposable menstrual product companies have sold products to us by using the fear of leaking blood through our clothes, leaving a huge stain and even huger shame. One day, I'd had enough. I was tired of believing I was dirty - unhygienic - unsanitary. And I'd done my homework. I had the evidence that these adverts had taught me this. I figured what if we spoke to advertisers who share messages of shame…using their own language? What if there were a way to joke around about menstruation where menstruators weren’t the butt of the joke? So I found a way to analyse and undermine this sort of advertising once and for all –  here's the pitch: 

Let’s debunk, demystify and disempower leakage fear by turning the stain into: An object of desire. An object of beauty. High fashion. Clot couture? … Too disgusting? Okay, don’t panic. We don’t believe you need to use real blood to reclaim. Let’s call it Leak Chic.

Introducing… STAINS™. A removable stain to wear on your own clothing as you see fit. A fashion statement that really says something, and that something is: “Screw you, Madison Avenue. I’m taking this one back. I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve and my blood on my pants. I’m gonna reclaim the stain, reclaim my blood, and reclaim my period.’ Because people, I’m telling you red is the new black.”

This talk features a STAINS™ fashion show and free samples for all who attend.

Chella Quint is a Brooklyn-born, Sheffield-based artist, designer, writer, performer, and founder of Period Positive. She coined the term ‘period positive’ and developed the concept into a well-known campaign to improve menstrual literacy. Chella co-hosts Sheffield Zine Fest and has been publishing print zine Adventures in Menstruating since 2005. Her 5-star comedy show of the same name sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she regularly exhibits and performs at regional science, literary and comedy festivals and she frequently writes for national print media. Chella has recently joined Sheffield Hallam University Lab4Living’s 100 Year Life Project as a doctoral candidate exploring the impact of shame on product design and consumer agency. Her zines are held in a number of international zine libraries and she has a chapter in Down the Pan: New Directions in the Sociology of Dirt, a monograph from the The Sociological Review.

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