You may be familiar with the name Liora K, or at the very least her awesome photography work, especially because she has collaborated with one of our all-time favorite bloggers Jes Baker on a number of eye-catching, controversial and confronting shoots which seek to challenge damaging and limited messages when it comes to women’s bodies.
When we came across this photography series, we knew immediately we had to share it.
In light of the current political climate in the US where we are gearing up for a a major presidential election in 2016 and after witnessing the very first Republican debate where 10 male candidates all shared the same thoughts on how little they care about and will do anything to shut down autonomous reproductive rights for women in America, it seemed even more appropriate to share Liora’s work titled ‘Feminism’.
Once again we are seeing abortion and women’s health being used as a political trump card for conservative candidates. It is a sad and sickening state that the people we are supposed to trust the most with our serious issues are the ones playing a political game of football with something that is extremely personal and important to half of the American population.
While potential White House leaders duke it out on the political stage, it is important that a generation of women raise their voices and fists and everything they’ve got to stop irrelevant leaders with outdated and backward ideals for the country from taking what is rightfully ours and send them a loud and clear message.
There are many different ways of doing this, and one industry that has become a very powerful vehicle of communicating important messages as well as creating a means of escapism, is art. For centuries artists have been using their medium to comment on the cultural climate of the day, some in very controversial ways. Art has the ability to challenge, draw attention, strike fear, and raise awareness for very important topics.
Artist and photographer Liora K, no stranger to using her art form to create a cultural commentary, gathered a group of willing female models, painted slogans on their near-naked bodies and photographed them for her site.
Messages such as “pseudoscience kills women”, “the right to plan”, rape is rape, no excuses”, and “end slut-shaming” speak right to the heart of issues young women face today in the battleground to retain their bodily autonomy.
“In March of 2012, when I started witnessing all the attacks on birth control, abortion rights, equal pay, and retractions of protections for survivors of domestic violence, I wanted to see an artistic response. I have seen and studied art that has acted as great catalyst for change – and what we need is a great change. I wanted to create a body of share-able and instantly understandable work that people could connect with and use to continue to spread the word: ‘women’s rights are being sabotaged, but we are fighting back’,” she wrote in a blog post on her site.
She goes on to talk about why she cannot stay silent about the issues that affect her generation and gender.
“I’m a feminist because I can’t live in a world where I am defined, limited, and categorized by my genitalia, where women are objectified beyond reason, where rape culture thrives, and where these injustices (and more) are so blatantly ignored and denied by so many people,” she said.
What’s scary is that from 2012 to 2015, we have not seen much forward momentum on these issues. In fact it has gotten worse, where anti-choice crusaders and conservative politicians fully believe keeping half the population’s rights at bay is the right thing to do.
What we have seen change over the past 4 years is the way millennial feminist voices have become very active in the digital space speaking louder than ever before. Intersectionality has become a crucial part of modern day feminism and if politicians were truly interested in the future of this country and truly cared about women, they too would care about this.
“I believe in the power of intersectional feminism. Even though I still have a lot to learn, I think that by going together, we can go far. I do my best to incorporate as many different aspects of women’s struggles in my work – I want everyone to see themselves in my photographs. The oppression and dehumanization of women affects everyone, and I strongly desire to represent that,” writes Liora.
She told Huffpost Women that she hopes people seeing these photos today will be inspired to fight for equal rights, and continue their activism.
“I hope that the people…who see the photos feel empowered to continue the hard work of activism and fighting.”
These messages speak a loud and clear messages against racism, homophobia, restrictive health rights, and sexual violence against women. We need a collective uprising of voices and talents to show our political leaders that we will not stand for their blatant ignorance over the issues we care about the most. That their personal opinions and biased perspectives should not be dictating legislation that hurts women across America.
Check out a selection of Liora K’s ‘Feminism’ photographs and view the rest on her website.
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