Jan S. Gephardt's Artdog Studio

Nurturing creativity with art, animals, and science fiction

Month: August 2019 Page 1 of 2

Women do not owe you

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On August 30, 2019

In Art, Artdog Image of Interest, Artists, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

The Artdog Image of Interest

August is a month when many students start back to school–many in new schools. I’m dedicating my Images of Interest for the next several weeks to a reminder that as young girls grow into young women, whether they’re in public or private schools or in college, they often are subject to gender-based street harassment–catcalls, comments on their looks, etc. They don’t need this grief, but all too many experience it.

The photo shows a poster, possibly in Brooklyn, NY, placed on a weathered painted wooden wall. The poster, created by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, shows a young woman's face, head, and shoulders, above the message: "Women do not owe you their time or conversation."
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Women do not owe you their time or conversation.

This month’s Images of Interest are dedicated to those maturing girls and young women, as a reminder that we adults in the community have a responsibility to call out harassment wherever it manifests. I am deeply grateful to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, whose whose work I featured last March.

In this month of Back to School and Women’s Equality day, I’m delighted to share more of her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project.

IMAGE: Many thanks to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project, and to Katherine Brooks’s Huffington Post article, for this image.

Find your passion, find your voice

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On August 28, 2019

In Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

On this mid-week after Women’s Equality Day, here are some gems of wisdom from around the globe, on the rightful equality of women. Which is your favorite? 

This quote-image includes a photograph of Malala Yousafzai in a pink hijab, and her words, "We cannot succeed when half of us are held back."

How can we work toward the goal of equality for women? One thing every one of us can do is advocate. Call, engage on social media, and/or write to your representatives on the local, state, and national level.

This quote-image shows a photograph of Hillary Rodham Clinton, along with her words: "Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely--and the right to be heard."

What cause calls most to you? Greater educational opportunities for girls worldwide? Women’s equality? Breaking the power of human trafficking? Advocating for more comprehensive access to reproductive health care? Advocacy for victims of rape or incest?Wage equality? Stronger protections for victims of domestic violence?

This quote-image shows a black-and-white photo of Iranian politician and women's rights advocate Mahnaz Afkhami, along with her words: "Women's empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights."

Whatever your passion, whatever your cause, engagement is only an online search away. Become as involved as your time and resources allow, be that a letter every month or so, or something much more intensive. The important thing is to step up, speak up, and bring your values more fully into your community life.

What have some of your advocacy experiences been? Please share, if you’re willing, in the comments section below.

IMAGES: Many thanks to the Women’s Rights Facebook Page, for the quote-image from Malala Yousafzai; to AZ Quotes for the words and image of Hillary Clinton; and to a different AZ Quotes page for the image and quote from Mahnaz Afkhami. I appreciate them all!

Celebrate Women’s Equality Day

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On August 26, 2019

In Artdog Image of Interest, Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice, USA Patriotism

The Artdog Image of Interest

Yes, I know we normally have a Quote of the Week on Mondays, but this is Women’s Equality Day, so I thought the infographic was more appropriate.Women have a long history of being considered less-than-equal to men. Here are some points to consider:

Women

From Visually.

IMAGE: many thanks to Elite Research, via Visually, for this infographic.

Happy Janmashtami! This image depicts the young Lord Krishna in his traditional role as a young butter-thief.

Happy Janmashtami

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On August 23, 2019

In Artdog Image of Interest, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Holidays

Happy Janmashtami to my Hindu friends!

I’ve been enjoying reading and learning about Krishna Janmashtami, a holiday that begins either today or tomorrow, depending on local observances. It is a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna, and it involves observances that can range from fasting to creating human pyramids. Happy Janmashtami, everyone!

Happy Janmashtami! This image depicts the young Lord Krishna in his traditional role as a young butter-thief.

Hindus celebrate the birth of Krishna on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of either Shravana or Bhadra (depending on whether it’s a leap year). I’m very glad there are smart people who can figure out when that is on the Gregorian Calendar, so I can say “Happy Janmastami!“ at the right time. I’ve been trying to do a better job, recently, of acknowledging major holidays that don’t happen in December.

With a written greeting of "Happy Janmashtami," this design shows a team of young Govindas, creating a human pyramind to reach a ceremonial pot of butter. It's a celebration of the Hindu holiday of Krishna Janmastami, commemorating the birth of Lord Krishna.

One of the most memorable, photographable, and dangerous traditions is the Dahi Handi festival, most famously celebrated in Mumbai (but it’s pretty widespread, really). Inspired by stories of Lord Krishna and his friends creating human pyramids to raid household stashes of butter or yogurt, teams form each year, practice, and compete for prizes.

However you celebrate it, please stay safe!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to “Holidays Today” for the green image of young Lord Krishna as a butter thief, offering greetings of the day, and the blue image of the young Govindas. 

Not seeking your validation

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On August 21, 2019

In Art, Artdog Image of Interest, Artists, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

The Artdog Image of Interest

August is a month when many students start back to school–many in new schools. I’m dedicating my Images of Interest for the next several weeks to a reminder that as young girls grow into young women, whether they’re in public or private schools or in college, they often are subject to gender-based street harassment–catcalls, comments on their looks, etc. They don’t need this grief, but all too many experience it.

This photo shows a poster by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh on a graffitti-sprayed wall that is predominantly dark blue, with light blue, white and gold parts. The poster depicts a young woman's head and upper torso, above the message, "Women are not seeking your validation."
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Women are not seeking your validation.

This month’s Images of Interest are dedicated to those maturing girls and young women, as a reminder that we adults in the community have a responsibility to call out harassment wherever it manifests. I am deeply grateful to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, whose whose work I featured last March.

In this month of Back to School and Women’s Equality day, I’m delighted to share more of her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project.

IMAGE: Many thanks to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project, and to Katherine Brooks’s Huffington Post article, for this image.

Margaret Atwood wrote, "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them."

From unbalanced to balanced

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On August 19, 2019

In Artdog Quote of the Week, Equity and Equality Issues, Response to Disasters, Social Justice

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week

Why is it so difficult for some people to believe that feminism and gender equality isn’t a one-way street that only favors women? But the shift from unbalanced to balanced is proving to be harder to achieve than it should be.

It would be so excellent, if everyone could accept that a balanced society works better. Peace can only come with justice, and even such a cold-edged discipline as economics agrees there’s more stability in a more egalitarian system. 

This image shares an unattributed quote: "Gender equality is not a Woman's Issue. It is a Human Issue. It affects us all. It illustrates the point of the post, that we need to move our society from unbalanced to balanced.

Centuries of tradition have brought us to this off-kilter moment. Throughout those centuries we most definitely did not have balanced societies. They almost invariably were, in fact, radically unbalanced.

In the West, we’ve had a lopsided social structure that oppressed essentially everyone except for certain privileged, white cisgender men. In nearly every society, women have historically been an underclass.

My Quotes of the Week this month are inspired by Women’s Equality Day. In each post I have tried to bring up a different angle on the equality equation. Last week I brought you daddies bonding with babies. Unfortunately, this week’s post is a lot more grim. 

This image gives another unattributed quote. It says, "For all the men who say 'A woman's place is in the kitchen,' ---remember--- that's where the knives are kept."

That’s the only “joke” you’ll get from me in this post.  In any unequal relationship, violence is implied–but that violence all too often becomes explicit and bloody. We can see it in civil unrest, fraught racial tensions, in violent crime, and most definitely in relationships between men and women. We’re still a long way from making a shift from unbalanced to balanced.

According to the latest statistics I’ve been able to find, considerably more than 1 in 3 U.S. women (35.6%) are raped or physically harmed by men they know, in their lifetimes. Women are overwhelmingly the victims in domestic violence cases. 

Just under half of the women murdered in a given year are the victims of men they know (Women kill men they know at a quarter of that rate). 

This image is a black-and-white photo of the author Margaret Atwood, along with her quote, "Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them."

Perhaps most chilling of all, the leading cause of death among pregnant women isn’t obstetrical complications–it’s murder. Usually at the hands of their husbands, partners or lovers–that is, their babies’ fathers. 

The likelihood triples when the father doesn’t want the pregnancy. Think about that, in the contemporary climate of more and more limits being placed on the availability of abortions. We can’t make the shift from unbalanced to balanced soon enough, for all too many women alive today.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Tigress and Butterfly Files, for the aspirational but unattributed quote at the start of this post, to Coolnsmart, for the (again, unattributed) “kitchen” quote, and to AZ Quotes for the image-quote from Margaret Atwood, which all too aptly sums up one of the most unbalanced aspects of our society.

My outfit is not an invitation

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On August 16, 2019

In Art, Artdog Image of Interest, Artists, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

The Artdog Image of Interest

August is a month when many students start back to school–many in new schools. I’m dedicating my Images of Interest for the next several weeks to a reminder that as young girls grow into young women, whether they’re in public or private schools or in college, they often are subject to gender-based street harassment–catcalls, comments on their looks, etc. They don’t need this grief, but all too many experience it.

This photo shows a black and white poster by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, on a reddish-brown brick wall. The poster shows a young woman's head and shoulders, and the message, "My outfit is not an invitation."
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, My outfit is not an invitation.

This month’s Images of Interest are dedicated to those maturing girls and young women, as a reminder that we adults in the community have a responsibility to call out harassment wherever it manifests. I am deeply grateful to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, whose whose work I featured last March.

In this month of Back to School and Women’s Equality day, I’m delighted to share more of her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project.

IMAGE: Many thanks to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project, and to Katherine Brooks’s Huffington Post article, for this image.

Father and mother sharing the childcare

Sharing the childcare

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On August 14, 2019

In Artdog Quote of the Week, Creative Life, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week

Once again, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is onto something. Ginsburg’s whole career has been a struggle for gender equality, probably since well before the Dean of the Harvard Law School asked her and eight female classmates, “Why are you at Harvard Law School, taking the place of a man?” It’s no surprise she advocates sharing the childcare.

My Quotes of the Week this month are inspired by Women’s Equality Day, but of course, true feminism isn’t only focused on women’s rights. Gender equality benefits both sexes. And sharing the childcare is one of those areas where all sides benefit richly.

This image is devoted to a typographical treatment of a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg: "Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation."

It may at first seem odd to claim that sharing child care responsibilities benefits men, but that’s mainly because of the cultural programming most of us have been receiving since birth. The benefits to both men and the children they nurture are clear from many studies. 

Yet fractured families and cultural norms too often unhelpfully keep men out of children’s lives. Few men become professionals in early childhood education, and when they do they may be looked upon with suspicion. Yet studies have shown that men who are involved in the intimate details of caring for small children are less likely to be abusers than men who are less involved.

This image combines a photo of Gloria Steinem with a quote from her: "We've begun to raise our daughters more like sons . . . but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters"

But males sharing the childcare (and doing household chores) can bring other benefits, too. A 2014 study revealed that couples who split household chores equally tend to have sex more often, and report satisfaction with their sexual experiences, than couples in less egalitarian arrangements. 

The feminist ideal would have neither gender constrained to an arbitrary gender role. That would be better for mothers, better for fathers, and most certainly better for the next generation.

Parents sharing the childcare: this photo shows a smiling father holding a laughing baby, who's being entertained by his mother playing "peek-a-boo."
When fathers and mothers share the childcare everyone benefits. (uncredited photo from Aviva)

IMAGE CREDIT: Many thanks to DesiBucket and Lifehack Quotes, for the quote from the Notorious, and to AZ Quotes for the thought from Gloria Steinem. The photo of the parents and child enjoying a playful moment is courtesy of Aviva UK.

Eid-al-Adha Mubarak, hope-faith-and-joy.

Hope faith and joy

By

On August 11, 2019

In Artdog Quote of the Week, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Equity and Equality Issues, Holidays, Uncategorized

This evening begins the holy festival of Eid-al-Adha for our Muslim friends. From what I’ve been able to learn, an appropriate greeting is “May the divine blessings of Allah bring you hope, faith, and joy on Eid al-Adha and forever.”

This design image shows a beautiful repeating design in blues and greens, and the words "Eid-al-Adha Mubarak" to wish you greater hope, faith, and joy.

I’m trying to stay current with holiday greetings for major religions throughout this year, instead of only thinking about holidays in December! This festival changes dates, based on a lunar calendar, but if I got this right, it runs from this evening through Wednesday evening. We all could benefit from greater hope, faith, and joy, in the spirit of this festival!

I remain convinced that we must seek stronger bonds of understanding across cultural differences, so that we may build bridges (PLEASE, not walls!) between ourselves and our neighbors. Eid Mubarak, my friends.

IMAGE CREDIT: many thanks to Religion World, for this beautiful design.

“I Deserve to be Respected”

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On August 9, 2019

In Art, Artdog Image of Interest, Artists, Creative Life, Cultural Diversity, Education, Equity and Equality Issues, Social Justice

The Artdog Image of Interest

August is a month when many students start back to school–many in new schools. I’m dedicating my Images of Interest for the next several weeks to a reminder that as young girls grow into young women, whether they’re in public or private schools or in college, they often are subject to gender-based street harassment–catcalls, comments on their looks, etc. They don’t need this grief, but all too many experience it.

This photo shows a poster by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, which has been placed on a public wall over a colorful mix of the scraps of earlier posters. Tatyana's poster shows the head and shoulders of a young woman, over the message "Yo Merezco Ser Respetada," which is Spanish for "I deserve your respect."
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Yo Merezco ser Respetada, “I Deserve to be Respected.”

This month’s Images of Interest are dedicated to those maturing girls and young women, as a reminder that we adults in the community have a responsibility to call out harassment wherever it manifests. I am deeply grateful to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, whose whose work I featured last March. 

In this month of Back to School and Women’s Equality day, I’m delighted to share more of her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project.

IMAGE: Many thanks to artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and her “Stop Telling Women to Smile” public art project for this image.

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