The Vulnerability Issue

We believe in the power of vulnerability, in its capacity to enable true, deep connections to form, to bridge the rupture between who we are and who we want to be, and to break down toxic structures. Our cultural propensity to numb vulnerability to supposedly protect us from the inevitable agony of life, also numbs our ability to access joy, happiness, belonging and love. The dangers of building up a ‘perfect’ version of the self to present to the world, and hiding from the imperfection and uncertainties of life, is in turn dissolving our capacity to feel gratitude, creativity and empathy. 

In this issue: Psychoanalyst and writer Maxine Mei-Fung Chung spoke to Tummy Ache about the warped way women have historically been severed from their desire. Climate activist and founding member of XR Youth, Daze Aghaji, shared her grand vision for the future, which doesn’t discount the inevitability of watching our current society crumble. While comedian Grace Campbell issues a call for nuance. She opens up to Tummy Ache about how, as a sex positive performer, when she was sexually assaulted in 2022 she became hyper aware of the binaries within which women are allowed to exist. Virgin/whore, funny/sensitive, vulnerable/strong. Grace explains how her use of vulnerability in her comedy is breaking down this dangerous assumption that women can only be one thing.