American Apparel sent heads spinning when the clothing retailer began selling its “Period Power” tee last week. The shirt depicts a woman masturbating while she’s menstruating. Canadian artist Petra Collins designed the tee. She says that the shirts seek to remove the stigma surrounding female sexuality so that women can have real conversations about what’s going on in their bodies.

“This image is stating that women are not a subordinate creature to just be entered,” Collins told the Daily Mail. “We are our own beings control of our own sexuality. I find it interesting that images addressing sexuality and reproduction are hidden and often looked at as disgusting.”

In an interview with OysterMag last year, now 20-year-old Collins admitted that the cultural double standard — where male sexuality is celebrated and female sexuality is “taboo” — compels her to make these sexually suggestive images of women public. The more we see the reality of what it means to be a woman, the thinking goes, the less shocked we’ll be by images like these.

"In our society, nude or sexually suggestive images of women are automatically seen as negative and objectifying and is often seen through a male perspective rather than from a female's,” Collins said. “We need to make room for the female view of sex and accept it. Until then, people are going to be uncomfortable with photos like mine."

The partnership between Collins and American Apparel seems like it was meant to be. Collins worked as a retail employee at American Apparel as a teen. The brand is known for pushing the envelope with overtly sexual advertisements for its products.

The shirts cost $32. Half of the proceeds from the tees will go towards The Ardorous, an all-female online art collective that Collins curates. You can purchase them at Shop.AmericanApparel.net.

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