Visual artist Jiabao Li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter, an artist with a PhD in Biological Art, created a multidisciplinary biotechnology art project titled Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech. The project chronicles an experiment between the two artists as they produced lab-grown clitorises by isolating stem cells from menstrual blood. These clitorises were 3D bioprinted and had their neural responses closely monitored.
The resulting data was compiled into a series of videos, online performances, live engagements (exhibitions, talks, and more), digital renderings and bioengineered objects. This project was first made to create a space in the sphere of international biotechnology that was inherently feminine and made for women. Women have been treated as subjects in the field of medicine with little to no agency. Women, especially those from marginalized communities, were used as ‘bodies’ that were subject to cruel medical experimentation without their consent. Historians such as Deirdre Cooper Owens have chronicled these atrocities in great depth. Not only this, women have actively been sidelined from the scientific community in the long-gone past and the present. This is especially true when it comes to their reproductive health. This is why Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech by Jiabao Li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality and Good Health And Well-Being.
Introduction to Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech by Jiabao Li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter. Video courtesy of Jiabao Li’s website.
Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech showed that the clitoris, even when separated from a body, was able to react to sexual stimuli. For the artists, this problematizes the concept of consent even further, since bioengineered sexual organs are increasingly proving to have displayed reactions to stimuli as any other sentient beings would. “As earlier described, traditional frameworks of consent apply to human interactions where both parties are capable of understanding and communicating their willingness to participate. How do we adapt our understanding of consent when one party is an only partially human or human-derived, bioengineered tissue form?” wrote the artists.
The artists suggest that perhaps a consent proxy model could work, where the tissue donors would be responsible to give consent on the behalf of their bioengineered organs. However, what does this mean in today’s world? A world where women, sentient beings with human rights, still do not have full agency and control over their bodies, as seen in the rise of global anti-abortion movements.
Resulting footage from the bioengineered art piece has been compiled into a series of videos on the online subscription based explicit content website, Only Fans. This decision was deliberately made to further advocate for public conversations around women’s sexual and reproductive health.
With all of the ethical conundrums that the experimental art has brought, one thing is clear: The clitoris is a powerful organ, abundant in nerve endings and its sole purpose is to enable an experience of sexual pleasure. However, the notion of a woman’s pleasure and the clitoris has been deemed taboo in timeworn societal practices worldwide. Some even commit Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a practice rooted in the belief that the removal of a person’s clitoris makes them ‘purer’. Yet, the experiment proves that female pleasure is a natural biological function, worthy of further research and study as all other aspects of women’s reproductive and sexual health are.
Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech by Jiabao Li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter boldly challenges traditional notions of women’s sexuality and consent through biotechnology. By creating lab-grown clitorises that react to stimuli, the project not only highlights the intrinsic value of women’s pleasure but also questions the ethical frameworks surrounding bioengineering women’s reproductive and sexual organs. This work calls for women to have greater agency and control over their bodies and reproductive rights as it advocates for a deeper understanding and respect of women’s sexual autonomy. This experiment brings to the fore many crucial ethical considerations and questions; while its creators may not have all the answers, they are undoubtedly worthy of ample discussion.
Find out more about Sentient Clit: the Pussification of Biotech by Jiabao Li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter and their other pieces on Jiabao Li’s Instagram @jia.bao.li and Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter’s Instagram @astrodesia.