UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology Fall and Winter 2022 - Flipbook - Page 13
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
cancers. Dr. Venkat writes, “Late-onset radiation
injury has a drastic toll on quality of life,
leading to pelvic pain, incontinence, sexual
dysfunction, and bowl dysfunction. There is
a lack of research and treatment options for
women suffering from radiation vaginitis and
stenosis.” The repercussions of quietly accepting
lifelong pain in exchange for ridding the body of
cancer can be just as damning as the cancer. Dr.
Venkat’s trial will help normalize post-care that
includes monitoring vaginal and vulvar changes,
and it will ensure continued and individualized
treatment post-radiation.
For information on Minter’s Spring 2023
exhibition, please contact https://lgdr.com/
artists/marilyn-minter/
For pricing and availability, please contact the
following galleries:
o https://lgdr.com/artists/marilyn-minter/
o https://www.regenprojects.com/artists/
marilyn-minter
o https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/
marilyn-minter
Contributed by: Ciara Shuttleworth
Ciara Shuttleworth is an alumnus of the prestigious San
Francisco Art Institute. She has worked for three prominent
San Francisco fine art galleries. Additionally, she has provided
art consulting for private and corporate collections, including
Google. She is also a published writer with works in the Norton
Introduction to Literature andThe New Yorker. Her most recent
book is the poetry collection, Rabbit Heart.
Dr. Venkat is very directly shining a spotlight
on women’s health to ensure women are
receiving the care they need, on both physical
and emotional levels, before, during, and after
procedures. If the role of women is to care,
at what point are they allowed to direct that
attention toward themselves, toward their
own care and health? In her trial’s protocol,
Dr. Venkat states, “Due to lack of research, the
actual prevalence is unknown and ranges from
1.25% to 88%.” It could be said that women
working in medicine and in the arts aren’t
breaking ground but are breaking a long silence,
trading in shame for solution, and quietly
claiming their bodies as they demand to be
given as much care as they give.
Artwork © 2022 Marilyn Minter
Courtesy of Marilyn Minter Studios
Lilith Copyright Marilyn Minter
Minter, too, has been quietly breaking through
a long silence; while she might not verbalize
the aboutness of her work, her viewers read
plenty into her work. In presenting the female
body performing self-care, Minter does not
have to say anything for the viewer to recognize
that Minter’s paintings are a celebration, in a
contemporary rendering, reclaiming bathing, if
not for Susanna, then for women in general. ☐
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