Art Engages the World

For awhile now, I seem to be coming across a general theme in people's attitudes towards pregnancy and children. This theme always seems to involve the following words:

"Gross"

"Parasite"

"Terrifying"

"Disgusting"

The perfect example of this mindset can be found here, courtesy of sasharusa. And for the life of me, I cannot understand her. And her thoughts can be found everywhere. For instance, go to DeviantArt (an amazing website btw, if you don't have an account, make one and browse through awesome art to your heart's content!). Look up anything pregnancy / baby related. My personal favourite is the "1st Trimester Embryo" by DraggyCat: 

This adorable little plushy got a DailyDeviation and when I saw it my first reaction was "AWWWWW". Many people had exactly the same reaction. Many other people thought it was weird, freaky, or creepy. 

 Another piece of art that had similar responses was "Birth" by Angela4:

I also thought this was adorable. Again, many people thought it was phenomenal, but there were still some who thought it was disgusting or creepy. 

So why is something so natural seen as something so unnatural? How can the way we all were brought into this world be disgusting / freaky? Are we really all just gross little parasites? 

But all is not lost :) Even though many people seem to find pregnancy and birth weird and terrifying, looking through some other pieces of art can be very encouraging. For instance, "Self-Portrait as a Garden" by KRIS-13 features the (accidental) mirror-image of a gorgeous wood carving:

 

 Every single person who viewed it saw this piece of art as touching, beautiful, magical, and adorable (and many people referred to the odd little guy in the womb as a baby!). "Concert for two" by serhatdemiroglu is a touching photo of his wife and son:

I think my point is embodied in "love for unborn" by anabi:

This beautiful tattoo was done for a man who lost his unborn child. The comments on this piece are very interesting. You have some, who simply think that this tattoo is far too large and excessive. You have others who think it is a lovely piece of art, both in the technique and meaning behind the work. You have many who understand and sympathize with this man's grief. And then you have some people who feel free to mention their opinions on abortion, on how they hope the baby didn't die that way, or how they do not believe the unborn are people, and that this man simply lost the "potential" of being a dad. They post these words on a piece of art that was made to commemorate the death of a man's child, a child he very clearly loved. 

So my point? Art engages people. Really good art forces people to face their opinions, rationalize their opinions, and then perhaps abandon them when the rationalizations fall short. Many of the artists above are pro-choice, and yet their pieces still managed to initiate discussion. Art is the perfect way to engage a culture. It can show people that pregnancy and birth aren't disgusting or freaky. It can show people that the unborn deserve love. And it can show people the fragility and beauty of every life. Art can demonstrate that there really are two (and often three!) people involved in every pregnancy, and that it isn't such a bad thing  (and maybe, that its actually a pretty amazing, powerful thing!). So if there is anyone out there who is artistically inclined, get creative! :)

PS You can also check out some specifically pro-life art that I've featured before here!