Sheela-na-gig, are or Irish origin and are gender ambiguous and carved from wood. They are grotesque females to negate the lustful sexualisation of the female body.The article shows that the history of the sheela na gigs is as important as their origin. Appropriated as signs of power, sovereignty and land. There is a relationship between the fertility of the female body and the land.
They represent both Horror and Pleasure at the same time through the connection between the mouth and genitalia. They have an emphasis on the reproduction and flourishing of life through the srtong indication of a womb, but this is countered by a skeletal decay.
They have been adopted by contemporary artists and feminists, in their working and understanding of representation of the female body, and its counter male, through the ambiguity of gender and sexuality.
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