RAGS
This project is a visual exploration of profanities and their relationship to gender,
specifically women. Swearing has been around for centuries, slowly becoming more popular
among publications and conversations as they became integrated into everyday language. Certain
words evolved into slang, and new derogatory slang terms surface every day online. Women are
still discouraged from using any four-letter words or other generally taboo words because it
somehow subtracts from their femininity as perceived by men, but these words are not inherently
negative or useless. I wanted to create a way for people to see the incredibly large quantity of
words women are supposed to avoid in their vocabulary while highlighting the contrast between
the “masculine” language and feminine presentation.
Every four letter word I could think of with a relation to a taboo
Mapping out how all the various elements of the project connected to each other
Began looking at Urban Dictionary to find new four letter words
The list kept growing (several hundred were included in the show, but I bet it would be in the thousands if I had infinite time to go through all of them)
Started experimenting with how to arrange all of the rags
Figuring out what kind of lighting shows the lettering best
More display experimentation
Organizing by color
Breaking the conformity
Continuing to pull and stretch them from their original square shapes
Destruction of the rags while escaping the confines of the strict columns and rows
No longer reliant on the grid
Doing "feminine" tasks (cleaning, cooking, etc.) with the rags to create wear and assist in the process of my ripping, tearing, pulling them apart to distress them
Tying the tails together
Making a four letter sweater - this one says FUCK (but very narrowly). Explored using pre-loved women’s knits
GAGS rag made from pre-loved women's sweater. Size XS.
From L to R, Top to Bottom: GAGS, Size XS; PUSS, Size S; HOLE, Size L
Final RAGS installation