For Sagrada Feminidad, Jewelry Is an Act of Resistance Lensed by Alina Gross

Sagrada Feminidad [IG] is a Mexican jewelry brand that reclaims and celebrates sacred femininity through bold, handcrafted designs.

Founded over 5 years ago by Cynthia Cortes, each piece — or amulet — is a tribute to the female body, created to honor its “power, sensuality, and mystery”. Using atypical words to describe jewelry DNA, Cortes’ creations also honor “autonomy, joy and endurance”.

As a mother, entrepreneur, and designer, every piece I forge is a celebration of the bodies that sustain us and the pleasures that belong to us. .. Thank you for believing in the power of symbolism, in jewelry as an act of resistance and in beauty as a form of struggle.

Made in silver or gold-plated bronze, every design carries a message: our bodies are sacred, and so are our stories.

Sagrada Feminidad crafts pieces that speak without words — clitoris-shaped earrings, vulva medallions, uterus charms, and fertility-inspired amulets that challenge taboos and embrace body sovereignty.

Her Sagradafem jewelry collection is not only a tribute to women but also a reflection of her deep respect for the role of ancestral history in our lives. In a more modern context, ancestral history infuses us with contemporary power and wisdom, if we choose to take it.

In ancient Mexican civilizations, amulets and charms played a significant role in the everyday lives of people, serving as objects of protection, healing, and empowerment. And I don’t mean to derail the visceral appreciation of this imagery with an intellectual discovery.

Working on this subject with a deep-trust AI for scholars, I learned about Tlazolteotl, known as the Earth Mother in Aztec mythology.

Tlazolteotl was believed to cleanse individuals of their sins, particularly those related to carnal acts, highlighting the balance between female sexuality as both a potentially corrupting force and a cleansing one.

Alina Gross Honest Photography

Anne of Carversville is supportive of photographer Alina Gross [IG] because her images are provocative in viewing women’s lives and bodies through a sensual lens — but also one that is grounded in reality.

In these images for Sagrada Feminidad, Gross features the tattooed, sun-baked skin of an older woman, a gesture that acknowledges the life experiences and likely-held values of she who embraces and expresses a deep sensuality at an advanced age.

The Symbolism of Bird of Paradise or Straeliziae

I asked Alina about her choice of flowers in this story — specifically the Bird of Paradise or Straeliziae. Her response was:

In my photography, the Strelitzia becomes more than a flower — it stands for the raw beauty of transformation. 

Like the female body, it unfolds with strength and precision, holding space for vulnerability and power at once.

This work explores intimacy, birth, and identity through a visual language that breaks with clichés. 

The image invites us to see femininity not as something soft or fragile, but as something deeply rooted, unapologetic, and alive.

Anne adds long-lived as well. The acquired confidence in one’s sensuality rarely comes as a young woman. The Strelitzia to me is not a flower caught in a moment like jasmine or gardenia. It’s rugged and not lush like the peonies I adore. Thinking today, the bird of paradise may carry more truth and life-wisdom than other flowers that seduce me and are good for daydreaming.

Sagrada Feminidad is not just jewelry, it’s a statement — a wearable resistance, a reclaiming of space, and a celebration of womanhood in all its forms. Alina Gross shared the original Sagrada Feminidad story on Curated by Girls. ~ Anne