Sticks and Stones

Behind the pop culture curve, as usual, I recently caught wind of Kanye West's new music video for his song, "Monsters" via Good Magazine. 

I can't say I'm surprised at the music video's disturbing portrayal of seemingly dead women because our society continues to be fed images that glamorize violence against women. I could give the producers the benefit of the doubt and speculate that they intended to create a shocking "artistic" critique against the glamorization of violence - but I won't. From ads for Dolce & Gabbana to songs about S&M from Rihanna, these images of women being threatened, brutalized or killed are becoming trendy, normalized and even worse, portrayed as sexy.

The roots of this sociological phenomenon are intriguing, but I just wish there were a bigger trend in the opposite direction - in the production of positive images of women.

One photographer who's certainly doing his share to construct an alternative story of women is the French artist, JR. Famous for his large-scale photographs of women plastered throughout Brazilian favelas or on the train cars of Kenya's railway, his "Women Are Heroes" project celebrates women's undying generosity and strength of spirit.

Some of his installations are below. You can find out more about the "Women Are Heroes" project and documentary here and see his TEDtalk from March.