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Jex Blackmore

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Jex Blackmore
Still from the performance One hundred pounds of rotten fruit while awaiting her second abortion, livestreamed by Blackmore, 2019
Born1986 (age 37–38)
Southfield, Michigan, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Occupation(s)Pro-choice activist, performance artist
OrganizationThe Satanic Temple (2014–2018)
Websitewww.jexblackmore.com

Jex Blackmore (born 1986) is an American pro-choice activist, performance artist, and Satanist. Blackmore was affiliated with the Satanic Temple, a non-theistic organization, between 2014 and 2018, and led its Detroit chapter. Blackmore publicized their[a] three abortions through a detailed blogging project, a film performance, and by taking a medical abortion pill during an interview on local TV.

Early life and education

Jex Blackmore was born on July 21, 1986 in Southfield, Michigan, United States and is based in Detroit. Their father owned a funeral home and they read books about embalming and disease, which influenced their approach to the human body.[2] Blackmore's mother was a theater director. Blackmore graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in classical archaeology and art history.[3][4]

Satanism

Blackmore was a member of the Satanic Temple (TST) as founder and leader of the active chapter in Detroit,[5] and organized the first public unveiling of the statue of Baphomet in 2015,[6] the "largest public satanic ceremony in history".[7] Blackmore's TST chapter set up a Satanic display on the grounds of the Michigan State Capitol in December 2014, alongside a conventional Christian nativity scene. The "Snaketivity" display included an inverted pentagram and cross bearing the phrase "The Greatest Gift is Knowledge", alluding to the fall of man and the Genesis creation narrative of the snake and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.[8]

In 2015, Blackmore and other TST activists created a response to that year's anti-abortion National Day of Protest: a piece of political theatre: "Members of the Satanic Temple descended quickly upon the clinic, holding an American flag emblazoned with an image of the goat-headed deity Baphomet. A pair of women knelt before the flag, their wrists bound. Two fellow protesters, both dressed as members of the clergy, began to douse them in milk while chanting a prayer; the bound women started gasping and sputtering as the cascade continued."[9] In the Detroit version, Blackmore held up a sign, "America is not a theocracy. End forced motherhood."[10]

As a TST spokesperson, Blackmore gave voice to a feminist approach to Satanism. Without explicitly naming the Church of Satan, they criticized Satanism as sexist, saying that "modern Satanism has been primarily associated with strength, masculinity and power. Reinforcing chauvinistic conceptions of the abilities of women, with a particular focus on male sexuality, modern Satanism has continued to emphasize traditional gender roles."[11] Blackmore also spoke to the media, on behalf of TST, about its abortion rights lawsuit for a woman in Missouri.[12] During this period, Blackmore designed actions that were not endorsed by the national TST. For example, they protested Texas abortion restrictions with a campaign to send semen in socks to the Governor. Scholars termed their effort as a grotesque protest, defined as using "the body's fluids to push back against attempts to legislate bodies."[13][14]

In 2018, Blackmore resigned from or was removed from the national TST, after statements deemed too extreme, as shown in the documentary Hail Satan? During the 2018 "Subversive Autonomous" performance, they stated, "We are going to storm press conferences, kidnap an executive, release snakes in the governor's mansion, execute the president."[15][11][16][17] In a 2020 interview, they criticized TST as corrupt and stated, "The organization badly yearns to be deemed legitimate in the eyes of those in power but they will never achieve this aim, even if their litigious activities are successful. Our work, whatever it is, must come from a place of authenticity."[18] That same year, Blackmore debated five members of the Westboro Baptist Church at a Central Michigan University class on media law. The student audience reportedly preferred Blackmore's Satanism to the Westboro Baptists' views.[19]

Abortion rights

In 2015, Blackmore wrote a series of detailed blog posts leading up to their abortion on November 26. Blackmore called it the Unmother Project and used it as an opportunity to oppose restrictions to abortion in Michigan, their home state. At the time, Blackmore was uninsured and they began their project only 12 days before the abortion.[20]

Future of Baby is Now performed by the Satanic Temple in Detroit, with poster: "No more lives sacrificed to fetal idolatry", April 25, 2016

Blackmore led the Detroit TST chapter on abortion rights counter-protests, including The Future of Baby is Now with "'fetish babies' – adults in baby masks, diapers, and BDSM gear."[21] Before their second abortion, Blackmore livestreamed a performance, One hundred pounds of rotten fruit while awaiting her second abortion, in which they were pelted with one hundred pounds of rotten fruit.[22] In a performance art journal, Blackmore wrote,

As overripe pulp exploded painfully against my skin, I was reminded that my womb shared a resemblance of fruit deemed unnatural and spoiled. Each blow echoed the weight of violence championed by political powers that tell us our lives and dignity matter less than that of a fetus... The bruises that camouflaged my body from this performance remained visible until the day following my abortion, which left none.

Originally titled The Dignity of Every Human Life, the performance responded to the January 18, 2019, March for Life, whose livestream was projected onto Blackstone during their performance.[23] In January 2022, Blackmore took an abortion medication on live television, Fox affiliate WJBK in Detroit. Blackmore was in the process of explaining to the host, Charlie Langton, their view of the Food and Drug Administration's position on mailing medical abortion pills, mifepristone. The show was held on the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.[22][24] In an email to The Washington Post, Blackmore confirmed that this was their third medical abortion and stated,

Abortion is a common and safe medical procedure surrounded by stigma. Stigma keeps people silent about their personal experiences and creates space for harmful, inaccurate narratives. My action was intended to dispel some of those myths, misinformation, and stigma.[24]

In January 2022, Blackmore led a guerrila information campaign in Detroit to tell women about the availability of medical abortion pills. The campaign centered around a poster designed by Blackmore and information on mail order pills, as an alternative to abortion clinics.[25]

Film and performance art

Installation of Undue Burden, a 24-hour endurance art performance by Blackmore

In February 2016, with the release of the film The Witch, Blackmore developed three interactive ritual performances in Austin, Hollywood, and New York City, titled the Sabbat cycle. The cycle refers to three phases of Satanism: Awaken, Rebel, and Convoke. During the Sabbat performance in Austin, Blackmore preached a "satanic jeremiad" (in the words of scholar Joseph P. Laycock) that warned of a Christian theocracy in America.[26][27][28]

That same year, as a counter-demonstration to a Catholic-led anti-abortion protest in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Blackmore wore a crown of thorns and carried a large cross on her shoulder. The performance was titled, "Sanctions of the Cross" (contrasting the Stations of the Cross).[29]

In 2019, Blackmore founded the Sex Militant collective and served as their spokesperson. Their two-day premiere, in Chicago, "constructed an immersive space out of durational performances, participatory rituals, sound, and protest art."[30] The group's work included a "gun training workshop for sex workers [and] performances by exotic dancers in public spaces to raise funds for a stripper-run collectively-owned strip club and union."[31] In 2019, a Roman Catholic church protested their Sex Militant exhibit and ritual, which included a spoken word performance, "a glowing cross being pulled by performers in fetish play", and American flags in an effort to link state violence and eroticism.[32]

Blackmore created another abortion rights artwork in 2020. made of "wood, paint, one thousand metal hangers sent to artists by donation."[33] In partnership with Ann Lewis, the piece was title C.R.I.S.I.S. (Constricting reproductive rights is state imposed suffering).[34]

In March 2021, the Ann Arbor Film Festival showed their film, An Undue Burden, described as "an endurance work that follows the experience of a pregnant woman as she awaits her abortion procedure in a hotel room over the course of twenty-four hours."[35][36]

A related installation work, Sin is in Their Blood, was featured by Red Bull Arts in Michigan.[37] It consisted of three rooms to show the "severe institutional control" of sexuality and reproduction.[38]

Blackmore has dabbled in spoken word performance, too, teaming up with singer Lydia Lunch when she visited Detroit in April 2022.

Personal life

In interviews from 2014 through 2022, Blackmore mentioned their affinity for Black Sabbath, their cat named for a goat in The Witch,[39] and their shift away from Christianity as a teenager.[40] They had a blog about radical politics activists, Raw Pussy, before joining the Satanic Temple.[21] Blackmore also expressed concern about threats of violence against their performances.[21][41]

Notes

  1. ^ Blackmore uses the pronouns they/them.[1]

References

  1. ^ Blackmore, Jex. "About Jex Blackmore". Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  2. ^ van der Kolk, Nick (December 7, 2022). "Fruit of Knowledge: Jex Blackmore – Satanist (Transcript)". Love + Radio. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  3. ^ Blackmore, Jex (2022). "Jex Blackmore CV" (PDF).
  4. ^ Hogan, Jon (May 10, 2019). "A Documentary on the Birth and Growth of the Satanic Temple". Hyperallergic.
  5. ^ "Why Detroit Has the Largest Satanist Temple Chapter in the US". ABC News. July 27, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Rothman, Lily (July 27, 2015). "The Evolution of Modern Satanism in the United States". Time.
  7. ^ "Why Detroit Has the Largest Satanist Temple Chapter in the US: Detroit just hosted the largest public satanist ceremony with 600 people". ABC News. July 27, 2015.
  8. ^ Klug, Fritz (December 21, 2014). "'Snaketivity' display set up at Michigan Capitol draws supporters, opponents". MLive. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  9. ^ Beusman, Callie (August 25, 2015). "Satanists Ambush Anti-Planned Parenthood Protests with Theatrical Milk Bath". Vice. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  10. ^ "Sacred Milkboarding". Jex Blackmore. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Manon Hedenborg, White; Gregorius, Fredrik (2019). "The Satanic Temple: Secularist Activism and Occulture in the American Political Landscape". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 10 (1): 89–110. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.38954. (Link added 2 May 2024)
  12. ^ Siemaszko, Corky (January 22, 2018). "Satanic Temple challenges Missouri's abortion law on religious grounds". NBC News. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Bivens, Kristin Marie; Cole, Kirsti (2018). "The grotesque protest in social media as embodied, political rhetoric". Journal of Communication Inquiry. 42 (1): 5–25. doi:10.1177/0196859917735650.
  14. ^ Beusman, Callie (December 2, 2016). "'Cum Rags for Congress': Satanists Protest Texas Abortion Law with Semen Socks". Vice. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  15. ^ Burton, Tara Isabella (May 29, 2019). "Getting in on – and Tossed out of – the Satanist Temple Joke". Word & Way. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  16. ^ 2019 documentary film Hail Satan?
  17. ^ Blackmore, Jex (February 10, 2018). "Subversive Autonomous Satanic Ritual". Jex Blackmore (See 02:40–02:50 of embedded video for quotation.). Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  18. ^ Nesler, Tyler (November 2, 2020). "Jex Blackmore". Interlocutor Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  19. ^ Frick, Melissa (April 25, 2018). "Westboro Baptist Church members debate Satanists in CMU classroom discussion". Oakland Press. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  20. ^ Moore, Lane (December 8, 2015). "This Woman Blogged Every Step of Her Abortion: Here's the step-by-step guide to how one uninsured woman obtained an abortion". Cosmopolitan.
  21. ^ a b c Utz, Charlie (October 31, 2018). "Meet Satanist activist and performance artist, Jex Blackmore". Dazed. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Flores, Ramona; Baker, Carrie N. (February 1, 2022). "Jex Blackmore Swallows Abortion Pill on Fox News: "It's Literally This Easy"". Ms. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  23. ^ Blackmore, Jex (2020). "The Dignity of Every Human Life". Emergency Index: An Annual Document of Performance Practice. 9 (2019): 18–19.
  24. ^ a b Mark, Julian (January 26, 2022). "An activist claimed she was taking an abortion pill on live TV: 'This is going to end a pregnancy'". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  25. ^ DeVito, Lee. "Detroit activists launch guerrilla campaign for mail-order abortion pills on 'Roe v. Wade' anniversary". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  26. ^ Blackmore, Jex. "The Sabbat Cycle". Jex Blackmore. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  27. ^ Lang, Brent (February 21, 2016). "How 'The Witch' Scored the Satanic Temple's Endorsement". Variety. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  28. ^ Laycock, Joseph P (April 19, 2016). "Can a Burgeoning Satanic Movement Effect Political Change?". The New Republic. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  29. ^ Blackmore, Jex. "Sanctions of the Cross". Jex Blackmore. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  30. ^ Gruenberg, Tess (April 2, 2020). "Sex Militant". Good Trouble. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  31. ^ Gavin, Francesca. "Sex Militant". CURA. Cura 37. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  32. ^ Lane, S. Nicole (December 17, 2019). "Six visual art shows that made 2019 bearable". Reader: Chicago's alternative nonprofit newsroom. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  33. ^ "Jex Blackmore". Jex Blackmore. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  34. ^ "C.R.I.S.I.S." Jex Blackmore. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  35. ^ "In the Screen!". Ann Arbor Film Festival. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  36. ^ Dioquino, Cori (April 21, 2021). "Ann Arbor Film Festival went virtual second year in a row". Film Fest Magazine.
  37. ^ "Stateside: Gov. Whitmer on vaccines for kids and more; a Detroit art space closes; Dearborn's first Muslim mayor". Michigan Public. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  38. ^ Blackmore, Jex. "Monolith: Sin in their Blood". Jex Blackmore. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  39. ^ Nastasi, Alison (February 13, 2018). "What Satanist Jex Blackmore Eats for Breakfast". My Recipes.
  40. ^ Orbea, Eduardo (July 29, 2015). "Confesiones de una mujer satanista: Jex Blackmore es la directora del Templo Satánico en Detroit". Telemundo. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  41. ^ "Sex Militant" (PDF). Lumpen. 28 (2). Chicago, IL: 22. Winter 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
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