Still musing upon Maternity

Was feeling a little odd after 'baby' posting yesterday. Then started re-reading my dissertation from my Honours year, and stumbled across:

'In particular, non-procreative female sexuality is often viewed as negative or frivolous: Elisabeth Wilson asserts that the evolutionary argument that relegates female sexuality to the sphere of reproduction restricts the interpretation of data on the subject; Carter points to lesbian ways of bodily experience as a site offering subversive meanings for the act of breastfeeding; and lactation pornography wilfully celebrating milkiness outside of biological parenthood is still marginal at best (Bartlett). Halberstam and Livingstone put forth that biological reproduction is ‘merely one possible function of one possible kind of fucking, as well as merely one of the many kinds of reproduction required to perpetuate the code of the human’ (12).'

Much to muse upon still...

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partial ref, badly formatted:
Bartlett, Alison. Breastwork: Rethinking Breastfeeding. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2005
Halberstam, Judith and Livingstone, Ira (eds). "Introduction: Posthuman Bodies." Posthuman Bodies. USA: Indiana Universiy Press, 1995.

Milky Magic

Some ideas for milky art happenings:

* High Milk Tea. Invite selected friends and colleagues to a Tea Party, with most of the items on the menu made from breastmilk. Must start hunting recipes, and non-squeamish guests!
* Making a champagne glass fountain, overflowing with breastmilk. I do believe that the shape of the champagne glass itself was based upon that of the breast of the Mistress of some French king or another, so it seems somehow appropriate.
* Invisible Ink piece. Helene Cixous claimed to 'write in white ink'. You can use cow milk as 'invisible ink'- write with it on white paper, let it dry, then iron/heat the paper and up comes your text. Should work with human breastmilk?
* Obtain one of those baby-sling things in which to carry about my pump. And must think of a name for her (the pump) too- then hold a naming ceremony. Actaully, think she is twins- Lactentia and Sugentia!
* Photo series/performance piece as Hera, spurting out the Milky Way.
* Use the songs Cow Cow Boogie (Ella Mae Morse) and I Want to be a Cowboy (Boys Don't Cry) for a show. Some sort of dairy farm experience with pumps and a milkmaid or such I expect. Predictable, but hey, it'll be fun :)
* Set myself up in a bar offering cocktails made with my 'special ingredient'.

I tried to do a LactoGrrl spoken word piece the other night, but when it came to the crunch just couldn't make myself go through with it. The crowd just seemed so... NICE. And for some reason it felt just too intimidating to read what was essentially lacto-porn while dribbling vanilla milkshake all over my face and shirt in front of those people. It felt frivolous, or unworthy, or just plain distateful. Why? People were reading pieces about politics and family, and this clearly intersects with both of these but still it just felt wrong. Do nice people not fantasise about such things? Do they not speak about such things? Do they not indeed DO such things? What made me feel so vulnerable in that setting? All of a sudden I was incredibly conscious that what I am embarking on with this whole LactoGrrl project is so related to the future I imagined for myself when I was young (the 'Earth-Mother-ness' of lactation and nursing) yet so far away from how I imagined it. No baby and no husband and no mother's group. Lactation consultant and plastic pump and chemicals and... for a minute I half-wondered why I didn't just do it the 'normal' way. You know, so I could turn up to speak with cringeworthy yet amusing anecdotes about sore nipples and feeling like a cow mixed in with stories of baby vomit and c-sections- my milkiness situated in its 'right and proper' context. I don't want the baby and all its trimmings and trappings, but for that moment I felt like I SHOULD. Will look for another venue, something a little more Queer and Quirky perhaps this time- I know I need to speak these words in public.

Inducing LactoGrrl

Have been putting myself through quite a bit lately, and finally cracked it seems and come down with an ouchy old sinus infection and a mild case of sulky old melancholy. A trip overseas, starting PhD, breaking up with longterm partner, various art projects, moving house (and crashing on a lot of lounges inbetween), hook suspension, graduation, 'take-down scene' performance, and a deliciously kinky new Boy to share it all with- its all positive (even the odd seemingly negative bit) but more than a little draining too!!! Time to put on the brakes for a couple of weeks I think...

I have the pump (just needs a new powercord). I have access to the drugs if necessary. I have the 'Milk Tea' (fenugreek, caraway, aniseed and milk thistle? from memmory). And I have the Boy willing to lend a helping mouth in the suckling department. All set to go.

Tentative start date for Inducing LactoGrrl: June 13th.

Sooner than I originally planned, but getting a bit impatient really. And will give me a nice distraction while I do my literature review!

My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And their like, It's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours
I can teach you, But I have to charge
I know you want it
The thing that makes me
What the guys go crazy for
They lose their minds, The way I wind,I think its time
[Chorus x2]
La la-la la la,Warm it up.
Lala-lalala,The boys are waiting
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And their likeIt's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours,
I can teach you, But I have to charge
I can see youre on it
You want me to teach thee
Techniques that freaks these boys,It can't be bought
Just know, thieves get caught
Watch if your smart
[Chorus x2]
La la-la la la
Warm it up,La la-la la la
The boys are waiting
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And their likeIt's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours
I can teach you, But I have to charge
Oh, once you get involved
Everyone will look this way-so
You must maintain your charm
Same time maintain your halo
Just get the perfect blend
Plus what you have within
Then next his eyes are squint
Then he's picked up your scent
[Chorus x2]
Lala-lalala,Warm it up
Lala-lalala,The boys are waiting
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And their like, It's better than yours
Damn right it's better than yours
I can teach you, But I have to charge
- Kelis

His eyes are squint? The perfect blend? He's picked up your scent? Am I missing something, or is this just an ode to The Milky Mammary?

In a quick update: have a spoken word piece to do on Saturday night. Planning a lacto-pornesque kind of thing, complete with milk-moustache and/or drinking a glass of soy while speaking so it all dribbles down my chin and shirtfront. First piece of lacto-art from LactoGrrl. Will post the draft here, and pix if I get any.

LactoGrrl's GalactaBlogue- An Introduction

Galactagogue: A substance used to increase the production of breastmilk.
Galactablogue: A blog created to document, dissect, discuss and debate the production of breastmilk by LactoGrrl.

Who is LactoGrrl?

LactoGrrl is:
A Sydney-based Freelance Provocateur, Rabble Rouser and Public Spectacle
An academic currently writing her doctorate on non-normative lactation
A performer at various underground events
Queer, Omnisexual and Extremely Curious
Moderately modified- piercings, tattoos, branding, scarifications etc
Not looking for a partner- truly

And most importantly...

About to embark on a quest to induce lactation.

This endeavour is partially prompted by a personal interest in pushing my own bodily boundaries, an intellectual curiousity regarding connections between bodies and a slightly perverted streak that has a long-held fascination with body fluids. In the course of this project I will induce lactation, record my progress and attempt a number of art projects utilising both the process and the product. The purpose of this blog is to provide a space for anyone interested in this project to keep up to date with my trials, tribulations and successes and to make suggestions and comments.

And so

On with the Flow!

LactoGrrl

PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT a 'personal' ad, as I am not seeking a nursing partner.