Today's Lady Art Crush: Carol Rossetti, a Brazilian illustrator who is making a brilliant contribution to the conversation about women, their bodies, and their roles in various societies by creating art that depicts real women and delivers profoundly relatable messages (and they look super rad). Too many women are subjected to cruelty every single day: We receive snide comments about the way we dress; our sexuality is questioned and reshaped as a way to put us down; our abusers have told us that it’s our fault. Too many times have we heard “she wanted it.” And for some reason, there are too many people who seem to think that a husband and two kids is what we’ve always aspired for. It’s 2014, but sometimes it doesn't feel like we've come very far in terms of actual respect for women, their choices, and their ability to live a life as whole human beings.
Rossetti's project, aptly titled “Women,” includes individuals with tattoos who openly enjoy casual sex, who are told by other women that they shouldn’t show off their body, who are tired of defending their decision to not become mothers, who are discriminated against because of their weight, and who have experienced terrible things. The drawings are gorgeous, and the mantras that supplement these illustrations are inspirational and supportive. The written portion of the art was originally in Portuguese, but luckily Rosseti was able to translate it. Good thing, too, because these awesome illustrations point out just how important it is that we keep asserting ourselves, our feminist values, and our untouchable unity.
"Women" addresses the scary (did I say "scary"? My bad — I meant "infuriating" and "motivating") truth: The world is an unforgiving place for women. While the fight (the many fights, tbh) rages on, it’s important to be vocal about these problematic ideologies — even better if it's through extra cool, loud, assertive art like Rossetti’s illustrations.
Images: Carol Rossetti(7)
