For one of my pastel pieces, I was really inspired by the various myths, through various cultures, about ana-suromai. Ana-suromai is the act of lifting up one’s skirts to flash vulva in order to lighten the mood during trying times. As far as I’m aware, there are 3 ancient goddesses from different cultures and religions, who employed ana-suromai when things were dire!

Hathor used ana-suromai to lighten Ra’s mood when he was overwhelmed with his godly duties involving war. Babao cheered up a grieving Demeter with ana-suromai, flashing her vulva to stop the tears from flowing after Persephone was kidnapped by Hades. Uzume lured Amaterasu out of the cave she had hidden herself in and causing the light of day to fade with her, restoring the sun and all living things! The quick flashing of their vulvas caused relief from stress and pain and brought silliness to the moment.

Some researchers have thought the ana-suromai to be nothing but an oversexual gesture with little to no value. I’m sure that makes sense if you’re looking at it through the lens of an Abrahamic religion, as those religions are known for dehumanizing and oversexualizing women. How absolutely droll, that according to them, nudity is evil/bad/shameful/sinful etc.! Moreover, the rich symbolism in the act of ana-suromai is missed by the logical and literal mind. To truly understand it we must think like someone who worshipped the Goddess, over 5000 years ago…

Everything started and ended with women, in the Paleolithic era and prior. This legacy was erased slowly over a period of a few thousand years by tribes that were patriarchal and with them can patriarchal gods. That being said, the Goddess can never be fully erased because she is everything. The ana-suromai gesture was, especially in these myths, an invitation to laugh at creation, to remember that life is temporal and we leave it, often, as quickly as we came into it. That while we can often feel over burdened or overwhelmed by the day to day mundane problems or even bigger global problems, that we cannot solve them from a low place. We must find the mirth and merriness in our hearts, in order to face life with courage and take on the challenges before us. Ana-suromai broke up that tension that often makes us feel like we are going to break whether from sadness or anger or pity or any other overwhelmingly harsh emotion, which while important to feel and process, we must let them go and avoid the desire to let them consume us.

Ana-suromai is an invitation to allow joy to consume us, even during the most trying times, because those who wish to crush our spirits with their word and actions will continue to do so… but they do not have any power unless we give it to them.