Body image is a fundamental part of our identity and a theme which reoccurs throughout LGBTIQ+ narratives. In her film Butch Coyolxauhqui, which is screening as part of the Identity programme of short films (click here for tickets), Director Karleen Pendleton draws on mythology to explore how we can re-create a sense of self.
“The tale of Coyolxauhqui is very popular in Chicana (Progressive Mexican Americans) feminist circles. It is a bloody tale and Coyolxauhqui comes off badly, chopped up in fact, but her head became the moon. Although brutal, this tale teaches us to bring together all of the damaged pieces of our bodies, to reconstruct ourselves, to become whole again.”
“I was asked to be part of a team of artists/researchers for the project “Through Thick and Thin: Investigating Body Image and Body Management in Queer Communities”. I led writing workshops and also ended up doing photography, visual design, voice acting and editing.”
“To create my version of the image of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, I took a photo of the actual sculpture from the internet and then began a process of outlining and colouring using pens and the computer. I probably traced her body with different layers 4 or 5 times making her turquoise and golden. Every time I felt better about my own body and it felt remarkable. I was truly surprised how this artistic process gave me a better relationship to my body. I didn’t expect that. I suggest everyone should try it.”
“I described to the artists what I wanted to happen with the flying penis, and they went off and worked on the stop motion animation. I imagined that the penis would fly onto Coyolxauhqui where a penis usually goes. And then it flew high and into her hand and for a moment I was horrified, and then I thought it was exactly right to be played in her hand. And now, I feel both the horror and the fun whenever I see it.”
Twice Lambda Award finalist for her books Are You a Boy or a Girl? and How to Get a Girl Pregnant, Karleen is an American-Canadian writer and academic. Butch Coyolxauhqui was produced as part of an LGBTQ Health Centre programme to create films about queer women’s bodies. Click here to watch the trailer. Click here for tickets to Identity on Thursday 6 June, Curzon Soho.