After reading about geek merit badges over on our sister site, Shiny Shiny, I was interested to see that embroiderer Mary Yaeger had made these 'female merit badges'; a very similar idea, except that instead of getting badges for completing open source projects, you get them for giving birth. Or inserting a tampon. Whoop-de-do!
Yaeger explains that the badges depict "femal 'rites of passage' as well as the myriad physical manipulations women undergo to achieve cultural ideals of beauty, such as weight watching, whether or not to shave or wear makeup, etc". The full selection is here.
