This illustration was part of exhibition hosted by Edward M. Kennedy Center to observe 16 days of activism against gender based violence. The theme of the open call art competition was Masculinity in your eyes.
When the word masculinity is used in widespread media it is mostly associated with power, strength and authority whereas femininity is represented by a damsel in distress in other words as fragile, dependent and weak. You may think time has changed with the rise of feminism and women have found their voice but deep down we know it is not true. Unlike a woman, a man can smoke and curse and be half naked in public without being the subject of scrutiny. The patriarch society has always used masculinity both as a shield and a weapon to justify their restrictions and attacks on women.
When the word masculinity is used in widespread media it is mostly associated with power, strength and authority whereas femininity is represented by a damsel in distress in other words as fragile, dependent and weak. You may think time has changed with the rise of feminism and women have found their voice but deep down we know it is not true. Unlike a woman, a man can smoke and curse and be half naked in public without being the subject of scrutiny. The patriarch society has always used masculinity both as a shield and a weapon to justify their restrictions and attacks on women.
The society where I have grown up I have seen masculinity can dictate what a woman is, can and should be. It reminds us over and over again what we as women cannot do simply because we are not men. In my eyes masculinity is a voice that tells me ‘’I cannot’. The words pulls women down till they are buried in ground and unable to grow and rise.
My illustration portrays all the things the patriarch society prevents a woman from doing. All the things women are not allowed to do and assume cannot do. These words weighs her down and imprisons a woman in her own home and prevents her from reaching her full potential only because. This kind gender based abuse is silent and subtle but makes a woman feel small until she forgets her identity and loses her existence. This artwork is my angry voice shouting at the patriarch society asking, ‘’Why can’t I?’’
