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I've seen some truly bizarre videos on the interwebs these days, but this one takes the (groan) cake. Swedish minister of culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth was recently seen laughing merrily as she sliced into a cake shaped like a naked black woman. Um ... wow, what do you say after that? I mean ... WTF?!?
YES, the cake was bright red on the inside. And it gets worse -- there's a human head attached the the cake painted in "classic" blackface complete with a giant, red grin. The head screams when you cut into it. Someone, please, tell me there's a reasonable, non-horrible explanation for this!
Warning: Video probably NSFW.
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
IT'S DISTURBING AS HELL, isn't it? I'm not sure what bothers me most -- the cake, the screaming, or the people smiling and laughing weirdly as they cut their slices. What is wrong with you, giggling people? "Heheheheheh, racist cake! Please may I have another slice?"
Okay, I was relieved to hear that there is indeed an explanation for this display: It's performance art. Apparently an artist named Makode Aj Linde created it to raise awareness about female genital mutilation. Yeah ... that's totally what I got out of this whole experience.
I don't care if the artist is black, either. This was just ... ugh. Lady no likey. Could you please go back to your studio and find a different way to raise awareness of genital mutilation?
I'm gonna put on my former graduate student hat here for a moment to say I understand that there's a place in contemporary art for playing with tropes of racism. I get that. Totes.
But this ain't it. Because how many people are talking about the plight of young girls subjected to clitorectomies now? Zero, that's how many. We're all too busy talking about how shocking this exhibition was and whether or not it was racist. And that's a damn shame, because female circumcision is a serious topic that should get more attention -- real, thoughtful attention.
Lord have mercy. On top of everything else, I think Makode just ruined cake for me.
Do you think the artist's intentions justify this performance art, or is it still offensive?
Image via Pontus Raud/YouTube
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