BLUEBEARD'S WIFE

“Women have always been monsters… But a monster is not something to dismiss, or look down on.”

To mark the anniversary of Jude Ellison S. Doyle’s 2019 book DEAD BLONDES AND BAD MOTHERS: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power [originally published as Sady Doyle, book available here], BPAL is proud to present a new collection of perfume blends inspired by this brilliant work of nonfiction.

DEAD BLONDES digs into the meaty places where pop-culture, history, and folklore overlap, presenting a series of monstrous feminine archetypes which perpetually recur in storytelling – including the stories we construct around current events, or events in our own lives.

Each archetype comments differently on the roles that women and femmes have been relegated to throughout society; many of these have been reclaimed and turned inside out over time, evolving from punishments into sources of power.

“This is a dark book, but some things are clearer in the darkness. This is a violent book, but an unsparing confrontation with violence can bring us to what lies beneath and beyond it.”

From Bluebeard's Wife:

“Bluebeard stories provide one of the few venues women have to talk about the pervasive nature of marital violence. Like the slashers, they convert private drama into public spectacle, giving women a language for their pain.”

Red rose petals floating in brackish salt water.