Afraid/Not Afraid examines how women live with an ever-present threat of violence and the feeling of being unsafe in their world. In creating this work, we are confronting this underlying fear to call attention to and to create discussion and change around these issues.
This collaborative photo-based installation explores vulnerability and our relationship to it as women. Gender violence, sexual stereotypes, and the portrayal of women in the media and popular culture feed and perpetuate this fear in our society. Our work looks at how these forces shape the lives and behavior of women, often in subtle ways, that become ingrained and normalized as part of our world view. The images reflect the relationship between being watched and objectified and how women present their identities to the world.