There are many non-profit and government led campaigns and initiatives aimed at tackling issues such as sexual assault, domestic violence, gender violence and rape. While we are certainly thankful for the people who dedicate their lives to noble causes such as these, that doesn’t excuse the rest of us from using our voices and platforms as a means for change.
Artists, for instance, could spend their entire lives chasing money, fame and power and indulge in selfish desires. We see it all the time, especially those who make a lot of money. But there are a rare breed of artists who use their talents to bring awareness for important issues.
We’ve already blogged about Italian artist Alexsandro Palombo who drew a line of Disney Princesses who were all disabled, because he himself as a disabled person wanted to show that a disability shouldn’t limit you as a person in any way, especially not the way the world sees you.
Alexsandro continues to make waves with his blog Humor Chic and has created another animated series dedicated to raising awareness for another important issue: domestic violence.
He has taken popular cartoon characters such as Wonder Woman, Homer and Marge Simpson, Peter and Lois Griffin from ‘Family Guy’, Fred and Wilma Flintsone, Popeye and Olive Oil and more and drawn them differently to what we are used to seeing.
In each of the depictions the wife has a black eye, is bleeding and looks beaten up standing next to a smiling husband. The artist told the Daily Mail that he wanted to give visibility to a problem which affects a large number of women around the world.
He originally released the images on International Women’s Day in March this year, but since then his unique drawings have been getting a lot of attention from media around the world.
“Domestic violence is a problem so widespread that its victims and perpetrators could be anyone. Even in couples that appear to be normal,” he said.
With Domestic Violence being the leading cause of injury to women in the United States, it is not something to just gloss over. Globally, one in three women experiences domestic violence according to the World Health Organization. According to studies conducted between 1983 and 2010, the rate of domestic violence against women was highest in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where 37 percent of women experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner at some point in their lifetimes. The rate was 30 percent in Latin America and 23 percent in North America. In Europe and Asia, it was 25 percent.
The United Nations reports over 600 million women in the world live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime. If that is not sickening enough to make you want to act, we aren’t sure what is.
Alexsandro’s drawings are in a similar vein to the anti-domestic violence campaign from India which depicted some of the popular female goddesses in the Hindi religion which bruises and scars on their face from abuse. It was very confronting but also a stark reminder of what is really going on in the country where more than 68% of Indian women are victims of domestic violence.
Another great animated campaign is from a female artist who goes by the same Saint Hoax and hails from the Middle East. Her signature style and focus is using pop culture icons to disrupt the political space with an important message. Her illustrations which recently got the attention of worldwide media also, was about sexual assault and incest but she too has tackled the issue of domestic violence in her work.
Saint Hoax drew Disney Princesses in a way that you would never expect to see them. For the ‘Princest Diaries’ series we see girls like Ariel from ‘The Little Mermaid’, and Jasmine from ‘Aladdin’ being kissed by their fathers. Sounds gross and looks weird we assure you, but it is nothing close to the disgusting things that happen in real life incest situations.
The artist herself decided to create such images after hearing about a friend of hers who was raped by her dad at age 7.
“That story shocked me to my core,” she said to the Huffington Post. “As an artist/activist I decided to shed light on that topic again in a new form. I used Disney princess because it’s a visual language that my targeted audience would be attracted to.”
The posters say: “Forty-six percent of minors who are raped are victims of family members. It’s never too late to report your attack” and Saint Hoax hopes they will encourage victims to speak out, not hide these crimes.
Her series on Domestic Violence called ‘Happily Never After‘ also features Disney Princesses who have been beaten and bloodied. The posters also encourage women who are victims of violence in partnerships to report what has happened.
The reason we love what both Saint Hoax and Alexsandro Palombo are doing is because they have cleverly used popular and iconic animated characters and used them to tell an important story. Where words fail, images can be powerful.
We hope both of these artists inspire many others to use their “canvasses” for a much-needed cause.
Jasmine wasn’t sexually assaulted. She was texting on her cell phone and crashed her car inyo someone, then hot her ass beat.