A new graphic design exhibition titled “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” is currently on view at The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. The exhibition features 80 posters, including Sebastian Kubica’s “Gender Equality”.
The poster portrays two male figures ready to fly off the top, while a female figure at the bottom is tethered by a ball and chain, indicating her inability to rise. Kubica created the poster in 2005, intending to bring attention to the unresolved issues of women’s inequality in the home and the workplace.
The term “women’s rights are human rights” was coined as early as the 1830s, but it became famous after Hillary Clinton’s speech in 1995. Clinton referred to the term in her speech and said that the world community would be a better place if women’s rights were interchangeable with human rights. She mentioned that human rights affect women who raise children, care for the elderly, work in hospitals, fight for better education and health care, and run companies.
Iranian artist Parisa Tashakori designed a poster with a flowerpot that bears the message “Nurture Women’s Voices”. The poster features female mouths atop each flower stem, indicating that women’s rights can have different meanings in different countries. Tashakori believes that women’s voices must be nurtured to encourage them to speak out for their fundamental human rights in their communities. Elizabeth Resnick, professor emerita of graphic design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, curated the exhibition. Resnick stated that the exhibition aimed to address the gender inequalities deeply entrenched in every society. She pointed out that women face occupational segregation and gender wage disparities, lack access to decent work, primary education, and health care, and often suffer from violence and discrimination. Additionally, women are underrepresented in political and economic decision-making processes
