Courage

About this artwork Gender-based violence against women is a vestige of the time when women were considered property, when their “proper” place was in the home, and when women were treated as second-class citizens. Sexual violence and harassment of women isn’t, of course, about sex; it is about power, especially abuse of power by the selfish, the damaged, the unscrupulous, and the just plain evil. One in five women will be raped in their lifetime, more likely by a partner or someone they know, rather than by a stranger. Whether she is an actress, a photojournalist, or a grocery store checker, a woman is extremely likely to be sexually harassed or worse in the workplace, though the rate depends on the industry. I almost never work in black and white, but as I researched these topics, I felt despondent. There were too many things I wanted to say. I thought back to last year’s Oscars ceremony, when some actors chose somber colors instead of colorful finery in solidarity of those who’d just