MEET THE EDITOR
My objective while pursuing the social justice issue of women’s rights for this magazine was to bring relativity and awareness to the problem at hand. I was raised in a traditional, conformist family, my father worked and provided financially and my mother stayed home and raised the kids. I was taught at a young age to sew, cook, clean and organize, and my body was shamed as I was told to dress conservatively modest, feeling as though I could not even look at my own body without clothing. At a young age, the pressure from religion, peers and even schools to “control” a man’s sexual tendencies and thoughts by what I was wearing was terrifying, unfair and repulsive. I was not allowed to leave the house wearing shirts that would reveal my shoulders or shorts that would reach higher than just above my knee. I was encouraged to marry at a young age and bear children, disregarding my aspirations for a career, and lack of desire for children, as it was my divine calling on this Earth to do so. Being raised with these impractical and unfair values was more destructive than constructive. I hated myself for many years because I did not have the desire to be the woman I was told I needed to be.
Throughout this project I have explored a few important issues at hand regarding women’s rights, including the gender wage gap, our misogynistic government and culture, and
body/slut shaming. I wanted to use the different mediums to deliver what is so important in a powerful, creative fashion, one that would speak to people about the severe truth of our culture. As I have learned more information throughout this semester, I have become even more passionate about the inequality and unrealistic expectations our nation holds toward women.
I started researching the Gender Wage Gap at the beginning of this semester, or what some people believe to be the “myth” of the wage gap. As I began looking into Library Databases, government documents and even interviewing women in my life, I realized that this issue is very real. It is disturbing to me that there are many who believe that the gap does not exist, even though it has been proven to be. I wanted to articulate the most important facts I came across in my research without making the article monotonous and boring, using an infographic allowed me to highlight the important details while capturing the audience. While working on the Body Shaming piece, it was powerful to photograph and speak to the brave women who volunteered to come forward and offer their vulnerabilities and insecurities for the sake of the message. The expectations of women are held to an impossible reach, and because of this, it has taught us to be cruel, to ourselves and each other. As I was starting Misogyny in the White House, I originally started by drawing with common degrading terms said about women. As I was researching phrases or words I thought would be powerful, I came across multiple articles about the mistreatment and demeaning things said by our own president. I realized that using his words would give me the power to communicate the seriousness of these common offenses toward women in our culture.
My purpose throughout this magazine is to bring awareness and understanding to those that may not have it, or to support those that do. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, and the only way to do so is to bring light to the situation and come together to fight it. The time is now to end discrimination and mistreatment toward women, and I hope that this magazine brings knowledge and power to help do so.