INCONTINENCE AND FINE ARTS.
ART GALLERY
Although at least 50% of women (and numerous men) experience urinary incontinence at least at some part of their lives long before they reach the old age, incontinence has traditionally been a social taboo for hundreds of years.  Due to the aversive social attitudes to incontinence, particularly to the tendency of many to mercilessly ridicule or bully the victims of this common medical condition just because they are different, those afflicted with incontinence also suffer from extensive emotional wounds and sensitivities. 

Childhood memories such as follows are common: "I so clearly remember being beaten and the tied to a bed and being put in disposable diapers by a staff member for wetting my bed and her not understanding why I did so.... it seems for some people it is easier to assume a child is doing it to get attention ....  thus abuse them physically, then humiliate them in front of others...."  The movie director M. Bryson is presently preparing a very important movie about childhood incontinence and of its emotional aftermath.  A short preview version of his movie, in the form of a brief trial with the actors, labelled as "a  "Redemption", was in the past for public viewing at the internet site of VEOH: http://www.veoh.com/videos/       In this short film, a frustrated single mother unleashes her bitterness at her bedwetting daughter, resorts to verbal abuse and physical violence, perhaps in the hope of stopping the incontincence. As her bedwetting continues, the mother forces the teenage (or pre-teen) girl to wear the diapers also during the day when they were not needed and eventually also outside the house, hoping that social humiliation would stop the bedwetting.  She also adds a pacifier to the outdoor attire. The punishment alienates the girl and generates a hatred towards her mother.  Years later, now as an independent adult, the former bedwetter-girl, now a lady, is still obsessed with thoughts of diapers and compulsively wears diapers in secret (without being incontinent) and also uses a pacifier, perhaps somehow hoping to resolve or end the intrusive painful memories of the distant but internally omnipresent psychological trauma.  Bryson's short movie and his movie script have created various comments that are also displayed on that Veoh website, including comments from former bedwetters, e.g., as follows: "growing up in foster care, having been made to wear disposable diapers due to a developmental condition I still have today, being abused as a child due to the stigma of wearing diapers, and being humiliated by both grown-ups and your peers has a lasting effect on you throughout your life. To this day I am unable to experience intimacy of any kind and I can not identify with any one but the grown-up woman portrayed here ....."

The related emotional psychological problems have seldom been dealt with in movies, paintings, or photography.  Among the rare exceptions to this is the 1976 motion picture "The Loneliest Runner" about a boy who suffered from bedwetting.  The famous actor Michael Landon has written the script, directed, and produced this film, partly based on his own childhood memories as he, too, suffered from bedwetting until age14.  As adults, these persons often still suffer from emotional problems somewhat similar to those medically diagnosed with "posttraumatic stress disorder."  They may be obsessed with very thick cotton or waterproof  (rubber or plastic) underwear, or with diapers, regardless of whether their incontinence is still present or only a matter of the distant past.  The social stigma does not help: it mercilessly deepens the psychological wounds.  While some artists privately create remarkable works of art inspired by incontinence,  these are rarely publically distributed as the social stigma may tarnish the artist's reputation.  We show some of these artistic creations here on an anonymous basis, in the medium of artistic photography.  For thematic reference we have divided them as follows.

Struggle to Maintain Self-Esteem.
Within this category are photographs where the victim of incontinence observes himself or herself in a mirror, as if to inquire whether or not he or she  looks too undignified or ridiculous in the diapers, as the bullies would say.  Typically, this is a lonely, very vulnerable, stiff, shy, insecure, and somewhat over-anxious contemplation, clouded by depressive thoughts or a sense of apprehension. However, hopefully, eventually, some of these persons may relax and may actually would find human beauty in the shapes and colors:      DSC_3704    b2208C.jpg    020am_1.jpg   155prl2.jpg   0784.jpg    DSC_3890    445blu2.jpg    k2570.jpg   445blu3.jpg    a_9236.jpg     ACK044    ACK062    k2590.jpg       DSC_1574     aj_6613     aj_6544    aj_5942     aj_5669    aj_3893v    aj_5579    aj_3568    aj_3566    aj_3351     aj_3347    DSC_1803     DSCN1113    _DSC2462

The special interest of these photographs with the mirror is that they psychologically represent how we form our self-image, i.e., a sense of how acceptable we are in the social scene, how likely we are to be rejected, mocked at, or perhaps treated with anger.  The self-image is  fragile and confused yet there is a hope that the attractive reflection in the mirror may help to nurture inner strength or inner harmony.
The feedback from others may provide self-confidence or may destroy the will to live, depending on the maturity of our peers.  There is occasionally a power in loneliness, the opportunity of noticing natural beauty, of relaxing, and enjoying the silence:   0979.jpg       DSCN1112      a_9090.jpg       a_9262.jpg        _DSC2383       _DSC2389     DSC_3675      DSC_3682     DSC_3722  

The subjective experience that our double in the mirror may have natural beauty is liberating.   a_9232.jpg  C_3724.jpg  b1718C.jpg

Memories of Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec:
Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec has left a lasting legacy of highlighting the beauty in a dance, with gentle or with lovely flamboyant colors, in a ballet or in a French cabaret:     _MAR3480         _MAR3497         _MAR3502         _MAR3507         _MAR3513           _MAR3515            _MAR3548            _MAR3656            _MAR3663            _MAR3674         _MAR3685          _MAR3693           _MAR3700           _MAR3729           _MAR3736          _MAR3753           _MAR3757           _MAR3759            _MAR3760           _MAR3810           _MAR3819        _MAR3835        _MAR3866        _MAR3878          _MAR3894        _MAR4211          _MAR4234          _MAR4250          _MAR4284          _MAR4415       _MAR4435       _MAR4450        _MAR4451         _MAR4455         _MAR4479          _MAR4483         _MAR4484         _MAR4502         _MAR4506         _MAR4583         _MAR4588         _MAR4724    
    _MAR4780         _MAR4785         _MAR4788         _MAR4789         _MAR4806          _MAR4811          _MAR4815          _MAR4824         _MAR4827         _MAR4829         _MAR4830        _MAR4832        _MAR4837        _MAR4838        _MAR4839        _MAR4851    
 

Light in the Darkness of the Dutch Masters:
We refer to the painting style made famous by Dutch masters in past centuries, well known as as "claire-obscure" or "chiaroscuro"). The style is often associated with a dramatic effect, e.g., in thepaintings of 16th-century Renaissance masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael or in 17th-century baroque paintings of Rembrandt and Caravaggio. Light and darkness in its unexpected contrasts & combined with harmonized colors is an excellent artistic tool.  The beam of light leads our thoughts to the stage in a more focused manner, without distractions:      _MAR0462        _MAR0465        _MAR0470        _MAR0492        _MAR0593
It is noteworthy that the clothing in paintings or photographs of these great masters may often be rather dark, yet it becomes a distinct feature in the picture, providing an emotional tone:   _MAR7613        _MAR7630         _MAR7655       _MAR7656       _MAR7660       _MAR7672        _MAR7682       _MAR7703       _MAR7710       _MAR7712       _MAR7714      _MAR7744      _MAR7757      _MAR7750      _MAR7771      _MAR7777x      _MAR7800      _MAR7816      _MAR7827      _MAR7837      _MAR7846      _MAR7856x      _MAR7858         _MAR7873      _MAR7885          _MAR7895         _MAR7919          _MAR7921         _MAR7952         _MAR7962         _MAR7990          _MAR7992         _MAR7996         _MAR8002        _MAR8003        _MAR8004        _MAR8008        _MAR8015        _MAR8035
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  Mar0222       Mar0234       Mar0280       Mar0290       Mar0322      Mar0327      Mar0349      Mar7849         MA9555c      MA9607c         MA9609c     MA9610c         MA9611c         MA9666c     MA9667c        MA9668c         MA9678c     MA9687c        MA9556c      MA9571c
  AACM5033           AACM5034           AACM5035           AACM5036           AACM5037           AACM5038           AACM5029           AACM5030           AACM5047           AACM5025
 AACM5057          AACM5058         AACM5059         AACM5060         AACM5061         AACM5062
AACM5039         AACM5040         AACM5041         AACM5042         AACM5043         AACM5027
Emotional expressiveness
Within this category are photographs in which the emotional expressiveness of the model's face and her body positions captivate the audience so that they may emotionally identify with her and vicariously experience her feelings.  The combination of a model with a very talented photographer helps to capture emotionally interesting aspects of human existence, mingling human feelings with the beauty of the lines, shades, colors, and forms: _DSC1675         _DSC1676       _DSC1724       _DSC1730       _DSC1732       _DSC2275       _DSC2277       _DSC2284       _DSC2293       _DSC2305       _DSC2303       _DSC2309       _DSC2313       _DSC2327       _DSC2329        _DSC2331       _DSC2357       _DSC2358       _DSC2361       _DSC2465       _DSC2470       _DSC2404       _DSC2410       _DSC2428       _DSC2444       _DSC2449       _DSC2464    k2156     MA1952R        k1971        k1979        k1986
    k2157        k2158        k2163         k2169c        k2179        k2195        k2216         k2223c        k2221c        k2224       k2224c      k1955      k2165      AACM5064      AACM5063

Surrealist door to other worlds
Surrealists artists in poetry or paintings help us to catch a glimpse of other worlds in which physical and mental coordinates, or dimensions, and laws are altered and may provoke us in numerous ways, creating a sense of disorientation or of "inquietude."  You may encounter an atmosphere of sadness or of elation, of an "out-of-body experience, of a regression to child-like perceptions and experience, or of strange senuous beauty, or of confused fear.  There may be a sense of an internal solitude or loneliness or of a lack of belongingness even if surrounded by people:      Cimg0025        MA04F     Mont_046          bedroom-Resort     DSCN4686f       DSCN4700F       Mont_015         DSCN6122    MA7580F        MA422X      ok4690F 
The inner experience may take on a dream-like quality:    Mont_005       Mont_006       Mont_007       Mont_009       Mont_010        Mont_013R        Mont_014       Mont_016        Mont_020        Mont_026        Mont_029   
    DSCN6122C      Mont_031         Mont_032        Mont_037        Mont_038    Mont_039       Mont_043        Mont_044        Mont_045              Mont_056          Mont_057           Mont_062            Mont_063            Mont_064     

Sociological comments: There have been brief but recurrent waves of a transient fashion among teenage girls  in some West-European cities to publically wear pacifiers around their necks (e.g., in 1960s, then in 1970s, etc), perhaps as a sign of a soft "rebellion" against the newly imposed arduous tasks of adulthood.   Similarly, it is well known that  numerous ladies in the USA still keep teddy bears in their beds, occasionally throughout their adult lives.  Fashion designers have occasionally experimented with infant-style clothing for ladies: for instance, a few years ago, a major fashion magazine reported on female models with bibs and colorful terry lined plastic pants (snap-on style) on  fashion runways in the UK.  Some of these social phenomena may date back to childhood emotional deprivations and traumatic fixations: hopefully, clinical psychologists can help to soothe the underlying and pervasive emotional wounds.  The artistic photography almost never dealt with these secular trends, though it may lead to rather interesting results as in the photographs combining the pacifier & incontinence pants:      pc7411       pc7412      pc7413      pc7414      pc7415      pc7416      pc7417      pc7418      pc7419      pc7420        pc7421       pc7422       pc7423       pc7424       pc7425       pc7426       pc7427       pc7428       pc7429       pc7430            pc7431         pc7432         pc7433      pc7434           
Modern art as well as more prosaic journalistic photography have often provoked dictatorial censorship, verbal disapproval of many, and vicious attacks by political forces such as Hitler's national socialism (public burnining of books and paintings) or by pseudoreligious zealots.   Hate-mongers might subtly or openly enjoy the destructive force of their comments.  In our case, we do not display these photographs for public amusements of the masses (as some do with ladies' mud wrestling or male boxing).  It would also be naive to assume that our photographs are to "fool" personalities such as "Archie Bunker" into wearing diapers in public.    Art can be a constructive tool to call attention to and promote the public understanding of the emotional problems and emotional pain of persons afflicted with incontinence, whether now or in their childhood years: this is our goal.