Women: Body-Positive Art to Inspire and Empower

It’s true—the world has changed a lot in the past century, and though we have succeeded in so many things concerning women’s rights, author and artist Carol Rossetti believes a cruel and subtle gender oppression still exists—and many people don’t even realize it’s there. During the summer of 2014, Rossetti decided she would draw women to demonstrate this oppression. These women wouldn’t be just any women, though. They’d be our friends. People with faces, names, stories—women to easily identify with who are struggling with body image, racism, ageism or those who are judged for participating in casual sex, having abortions, or being gay.

Collected here are many of the illustrations seen and shared via viral posts all over the Internet in addition to brand new, never-before-published sketches on subjects ranging from physical handicaps to bathing suit shopping to tattoos. Each woman featured has a name, a story, and a reason to be proud, which Rossetti includes at the base of each sketch.

“I can't change the world by myself,” Rossetti has said, “but I'd love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.”