Women

Throughout history and still today, women have endured unspeakable pain simply for existing. Their bodies, their voices, their very presence have been treated as something to be controlled, punished, or erased.

In the 15th to 18th century, women in Europe were burned as witches because they were women who defied norms, spoke out, or simply lived differently. In colonial India, up until the 19th century, widows were forced to die on their husbands' funeral pyres, a brutal tradition known as Sati.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, women were often institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals by their husbands for being “hysterical,” “uncooperative,” or merely inconvenient. Higher education was denied to women in many countries, based on the belief that they were intellectually inferior. In the 20th century, thousands of women, especially those who were poor, mentally ill, or marginalized, were forcibly sterilized.

And it did not end there.

Even today, in the 21st century, women are murdered in so-called honor killings for choosing their own partners or seeking independence. Girls are subjected to female genital mutilation to control their sexuality. Child marriage still exists, stealing away the childhood of millions. In many parts of the world, girls are denied education, forbidden to work, and trafficked like property.

Yet, through it all, women have resisted. They have written, spoken, protested, survived. They have fought for the right to vote, to learn, to work, to be free. Not just for themselves, but for the generations to come. Every right women have today was fought for, often painfully.

It’s time women can stop to prove their worth. Being human is enough to be treated as a human being. 

Acrylic and oil paint on high quality poster. Size: 12"X16" (30 cm x 40 cm). The frame and a glossy varnish are without additional cost. Please let me know if you want the frame and if you want the painting to be varnished.