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It was the vulva pants that drew me to South Kensington. Janelle Monaé described the ruffled trousers, worn in the video for her1 single Pynk, as “a celebration of creation, self-love, and pussy power”. In Pynk, Monaé, who identifies as non-binary and is black, sings about the areas of her body, including her tongue, her brain, her fingertips, and her genitals, that are, you guessed it, pink. For anyone who has not seen the video, Monaé‘s trousers are sensational. Legs together, they evoke a woman's outer genitalia; spread, they create a vaginal opening. Pynk received critical acclaim and Monaé‘s outfit was rightly one of the centrepieces of the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition, DIVA.
On the surface, DIVA was a celebration of couture, very much in keeping with the V&A's mission to be the world's leading museum of art, design, and performance. In a series of chronological “scenes” (Dancers and Showgirls, Hollywood Divas, Opera Voices … etc.), the exhibition presented some of the most iconic costumes ever worn: Piaf's Little Black Dress, the gown Callas wore as Violette, the sequined dress in which Shirley Bassey sang Diamonds Are Forever … I was surprised at how familiar these items of stage wear, many of them worn only once, were to me. But DIVA was much more than a collection of frocks; it was an exploration of feminine power and creativity, a provocative counterpoint to the mother, Madonna, whore female trinity. Its message lives on and calls for reflection.
Divas have always been with us. Why have we needed these icons of femininity, which seem so at odds with billions of real, tangible, and (in patriarchal societies) frequently underpaid and exploited women? The ancients understood: male gods may scheme and fight, but it is the goddesses who hold the real power. Think of Aphrodite (goddess of desire), Saraswati or Athena (wisdom), Lakshmi (wealth), Isis (motherhood, magic and medicine), Nemesis (retribution), or Kali (death). Freud made the penis iconic, Kl