The Forbidden Fruit
All around the world, there are institutional laws that try to prevent people from doing things that certain individuals or groups in power use to impose their moral perspectives onto the society at large. They wish to legislate what they deem as “acceptable” behavior. A fair amount of these have to do with a range of sexual acts, or really anything sexually related at all. Throughout history, sex has been a taboo among much of Western society, and in today’s modern world, those taboos are more specifically sexual practices that are seen as “non-traditional”. People just don’t want to know about these, and they often see it as gross, unnecessary, or “wrong”. For sexual rights, there has been recent backlash towards the transgender community as well as constant backlash towards women’s reproductive rights. I am of the personal belief that no one should be allowed to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body, nor do I believe that transgender people are a “problem” that need to be controlled. Those trying to create laws to prevent reproductive rights or the rights of transgender people to use a public bathroom are living under false assumptions and they need to educate themselves with the truth instead of spreading these lies.
What happens when these acts and beliefs are thrown into viewers’ faces? The acts that one might see in grotesque pornos which would need to be sought out for are shown here in striking detail, large, and unafraid of what they are doing. But, what they are doing is with fruit and not sexual organs themselves. Fruit is a reproductive element of plants in and of itself. Plants produce these fruits, or “eggs”, in order for their kind to continue on in the world. This is the same with anything sexual, but for humans, there is the added feelings attached to sexual acts. People like these acts because it makes them feel good, powerful, needed, or any other range of feelings. Why then, does something that makes someone feel these feelings create such backlash from the people that see it as a taboo? These people are likely uncomfortable, scared, unknowledgeable, etc. and wish to control something that they don’t understand or try to understand. It doesn’t fit into their knowledge of the world, so they dismiss it and try to fit it back into their mold.
I use fruit to connect to these sexual taboos and sexual issues in our modern world. The fruit is a simple, non-assuming object, but it is put into the place of a grotesque sexual act or a sexual organ of some sort. The fruits are mashed, chewed, spit out, or ripped apart to create an uncomfortable feeling and an instant image of the sexual act or organ they are meant to portray. Whether it is a papaya womb full of eggs being ripped apart, the squeezing hands of a man on a banana, or the drool of blueberry “coming” out of a girl’s mouth; the viewer is flashed with images of uncomfortable, grotesque taboos that question what is accepted in our society, power roles among the sexes, and what should or shouldn’t be controlled by those in power.
But remember, these are just simple fruits from the supermarket.