She’s Still Here ~ A Women’s Protest Collection

Thank you for taking the time to explore my newest collection, a series of Women’s Protest Posters created for the upcoming January 2019 Women’s March. This is a collection of women’s protest art supporting the equal and human rights of folks from all walks of life, regardless of gender, race, origin, wealth, nationality, religion, ability, sexual orientation, identification or representation.

Sponsors are needed to fulfill the vision of this project. Please look for more details HERE.
Meanwhile, enjoy the show!

 

“OUR TRUTH OUR RIGHT”

Learning to embrace her truest self is a continuum.
In the face of a world that persists in imposing its image
and definition of woman upon her, she is challenged.
Why has she not been kinder to herself?
When did she forget to cherish the miracle of each curve and edge?
Where are the poems that savor this warrior, lover and mother?
Even as she stands to face and embrace her beautiful, life-worn body
there are thieves of her Truth rattling the window and doors.
She practices loving herself ferociously and with relentless commitment, so that hate can’t gain entry. 

Women are 51% of the US population (49.6% globally) and yet…women’s equality is (still) among the most persistent human rights challenges around the world. World-wide, women are disproportionally impacted by poverty and often restricted in accessing resources, education and training that could help us rise up. Until the world’s women live free of violence and poverty, and lead half the world’s countries, gender justice will be on our to-do lists. So long as women continue to live in fear and are excluded from decision-making to make life better for themselves and future generations, women and their allies will protest.

“BELIEVE WOMEN”
Mixed Media: Ink, acrylic, pastels, collage 

“Here is why I believe you should take this stand with me. Violence against women destroys our souls. It annihilates our sense of self. It numbs us. It separates us from our bodies. It is the tool used to keep us second-class citizens. And if we don’t address it, it can lead to depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, overeating and suicide. It makes us believe we are not worthy of happiness.”     ~ Eve Ensler 

“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there, and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything….I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”     ~ D. Trump, 45th President of the USA 

Awareness leads to change:
Every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. Every 11 minutes, that victim is a child. 5 out of every 1000 perpetrators will end up in prison.

On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States.
82% of all juvenile victims are female. 90% of adult rape victims are female.
Females ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

Women ages 18-24 who are college students are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence.  Females of the same age who are not enrolled in college are 4 times more likely.
(Source: RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. The US’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.)

“I CAN VOTE”

Between ages six and twenty-one, girls were taught essential constructs. Early on, it was the Lady Litany: Ladies sit still. Ladies use quiet voices. Ladies cross their legs. You look like a little lady when you wear a dress. And the overarching: Act more lady-like. Once we hit our teen years, we learned the “The Don’t Details”:
1) Don’t swagger like a boy; smaller steps are more feminine.
2) Don’t raise your hand so often in class; no one likes a bossy know-it-all.
3) Don’t look so serious; you’re prettier when you smile.
4) Don’t purse your lips; you look like a bitch.
5) Don’t cut your hair; long hair is sexier.
6) Don’t flirt, wear short skirts, dance too much, drink too much or laugh too loudly unless you want “it.”

In schools, churches and our communities we were pursued by male classmates and neighbors who said they wanted to be friends until turned down for dates, propositioned and preyed on by far too many married men, and bullied by other young women when we could’ve been banding together. By 21 – at best – we’d been warned, judged, criticized, cat called, pinched, grabbed, cornered, labeled, looked over, leered at, gossiped about, propositioned, flirted with, denied access and discriminated against  – all thanks to being born girl. These realities of the female experience were as familiar to us as breathing and in fact, normal. 

How normal? So normal that our mothers never warned us (because it never occurred to them) and our sisters and friends never spoke about it. We didn’t challenge the status quo regarding these everyday phenomena.We were conditioned to normalize discrimination, coercion, sexually loaded words and imagery, jargon, body shaming advertising, actual violence, emotional pressure, that horrible feeling of being in the wrong place with the wrong person, and the haunting fear that if we spoke up – we’d be ruined forever.

Amazingly, incredulously —at all still applies today. This is scary for some. It’s okay to be scared. Use caution and proceed. One can be scared and a man and speak out for women. One can be human and vote their conscious rather than their Party. Be scared, but be brave. Voting for representation and laws of Equal and Human Rights is one small thing that we can all do. Use your vote, voice, position, compassion and nerve to help anyone who is vulnerable because of their circumstances (gender, sexuality, income, education) and Fate.

“SHE RISES”

Having lost track
of the number
of times I’ve been broken,
tonight I remembered something perfect and absolute
in its wholeness
rising faithfully alone into the brilliant blue of
twilight sky. 

~ martha lee phelps 

“STRONG CHILDREN”

Whether she ever wants to be a mother or not — it’s her body.
Whether she has one or four or ten children — it’s her body.
Choosing the life she wants to create for herself — is her right.
Choosing the way she wants to care for herself — is her right.
Choosing when or if she wants to build a family
using her body as the primary tool — is her right. 

Her body: her right.

~ martha lee phelps 

“Women Are Heroic”

In our society and system of privilege, how do you define a hero?
A women who navigates the world with grace and vision despite all the odds against her: alone, female, enslaved, black, impoverished, illiterate. A woman born into slavery who chose to risk her own life repeatedly to guide others on a journey to freedom. A woman who served for the Union Army in the Civil War – from cook and nurse to spy and foot soldier. A woman who spoke and advocated for women’s suffrage. A woman who adopted a child as well as converted her home into a safe place for aged and indigent people of color. She died on March 10, 1913 at about 93 years old and was buried with military honors. 

In our society and system of privilege, how do you define yourself?
My definition reads like this: I am a cis-gender, white, middle-class, well-educated,  politically liberal, married American woman with children who was raised by cis-gender parents, who were also both white, middle-class, well-educated, politically liberal and more than six generations American-born. In short, I am a person of privilege. No matter how I try, I can never fully understand any other reality. Harriet Tubman’s life history is known to me, but the reality of her circumstance are forever foreign to me. I cannot begin to know her struggle, yet I can honor her with a commitment to awareness and willingness to take action.

So, how do you define yourself? If you substitute the word “trans” for cis, or “black” for white, or “immigrant” for American-born, the harsher realities of lack-of-privilege come into focus. If you add the words “Muslem” or “disabled” or “poor,” your awareness may change even more.

Understanding and realizing how we all benefit from the system of privilege, offers us the opportunity to may think more carefully about to rectify the situations of the burdened, and to actively oppose the problems that privilege creates in our society. 

Rising up against the odds, heroes surround us.

~ martha lee phelps

“Pay Up”

Women are STILL not being paid equally. Unequal pay hurts women. It hurts families. It hurts us all. Every woman deserves to get paid what they’re worth.

The gender pay gap is the gap between what men and women are paid. Most commonly, it refers to the median annual pay of all women who work full time and year-round, compared to the pay of a similar cohort of men. Other estimates of the gender pay gap are based on weekly or hourly earnings, or are specific to a particular group of women.

The gender pay gap is the result of many factors, including occupational segregation, bias against working mothers, and direct pay discrimination. Additionally, such things as racial bias, disability, access to education, and age come into play. Consequently, different groups of women experience very different gaps in pay. Native or Indigenous women earn 42% less, Hispanic or Latina women earn 47% less; Black women earn 39% less; White women earn 23% less; Asian women earn 15% less.

In 2017, the state with the largest gap was Louisiana, which had a gender pay ratio of 69%; the state with the smallest gap was California, with a gender pay ratio of 89%. (Oregon ranks 20th in the nation, with women being paid 18% less than men – a gender pay ration of 82%.)

The ten occupations where women collectively lose the most money include: financial managers, physicians and surgeons, retail supervisors,  registered nurses, marketing and sales managers, lawyers, chief executives, medical and health managers, and education administrators. In some occupations, women collectively are receiving billions less than they would if they were paid the same as men in that occupation. 

(Source: The American Association of University Women)

 

CALL TO ACTION!