Treatment Of Women

My collage shows headlines of sexual violence against women in recent times with the middle section outline of a woman and all the names, titles, rules, safety measures and advice we are raised being told. The right side are clippings from newspaper articles and magazine ads from the early 1900s.

Over 100 years ago a newspaper focused on Jack the Ripper’s first victim’s alleged prostitution and alcoholism, shadowing the gruesome fact of his crimes. Ads to women in the early-1900’s show how they defended themselves against gropers with hatpins. Product ads in the mid-1900’s focused on a woman's body, or how she can please a man. Headlines on how a woman dresses and if she is proper because of it. Years of history on how women are portrayed or taught what they wear and how they behave is the cause for their problems. If they just behave and look pretty for their men, all will be well.

When will humanity understand that men can not abuse a women - verbally or physically? To this day, how a woman was dressed or how much she had to drink comes up as an argument against why it gave permission to a man to take advantage of her. The cycle must stop. Families must educate and teach their children on how to treat a woman, what rights a woman has, explaining that no matter what a woman is wearing or doing that it never gives you permission to hurt her or make her uncomfortable. We are all human and deserve to not live in fear or judgement.