Rupi Kaur
| Rupi Kaur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 5 October 1992 |
| Occupation | Author, poet |
| Language | English |
| Ethnicity | Indo-Canadian |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Notable works | Milk and Honey |
| Website | |
| www.rupikaur.com | |
Rupi Kaur is a contemporary Canadian feminist poet, writer and spoken word artist based in Toronto. She is popularly known as an Instapoet for the traction she gains online on her poems on Instagram.[1] She published a book of poetry and prose entitled "milk and honey" in 2015. The book deals with themes of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.[2]
Life
Rupi Kaur was born in Punjab, India and emigrated with her parents to Toronto, Canada at an early age. As a child, she was inspired by her mother to draw and paint. She used to write poems to her friends on their birthdays or messages to her middle school crushes.[2] She studied Rhetoric and Professional Writing at the University of Waterloo, Ontario.[2] She currently resides in Brampton, Ontario with her parents and four siblings.[3]
Work
Kaur began her career in poetry online through social media websites like Instagram and Tumblr. Among her more notable works is her photo-essay on menstruation, described as a piece of visual poetry intended to challenge societal menstrual taboos.[4] Other common themes found throughout her works include abuse, femininity, love, and heartbreak. She is inspired by writers like Anais Nin, Virginia Woolf, and Warsan Shire and started writing poetry seriously in November 2013.[2] She also draws inspiration from Sikh scriptures in her writing and her life.[2] In October 2015, Kaur published her collective works in the book Milk and Honey.[5] A collection of poetry and prose, the book is split into four chapters, and each chapter deals with a different theme.[2]
Controversy
In March 2015, Kaur posted a photo of herself lying in bed with a menstrual blood stain on her sweatpants on Instagram. Instagram removed it twice because the picture didn't "follow (their) Community Guidelines." The picture was part of menstruation themed photo-series to destigmatize taboos around menstruation.[6] Kaur took to Facebook and critiqued Instagram's action saying, "Thank you Instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. You deleted my photo twice stating that it goes against community guidelines. I will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be ok with a small leak when your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified, pornified, and treated less than human."[7]
The picture on Facebook was shared by thousands, went viral and made headlines around the world. Later, Instagram restored her picture and apologized to Rupi Kaur saying it had removed it by mistake.[6]
References
- ↑ Flood, Alison (2016-09-13). "Poet Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey sells more than half a million copies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Milk & Honey: A Poet Exposes Her Heart". Kaur Life. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ↑ El-Safty, Amirah. "Internet Made the Poetry Star: The digital life and times of poet and artist Rupi Kaur". The Walrus. The Walrus. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ Briscoll, Drogan. "Feminist Artist Rupi Kaur, Whose Period Photograph Was Removed From Instagram: 'Men Need To See My Work Most'". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ "Poet and artist Rupi Kaur battled taboos about women's bodies – and broke the internet". CBC. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- 1 2 "The picture Instagram didn't want you to see". The Independent. 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
- ↑ "Instagram deletes woman's period photos - but her response is amazing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-10-08.