> Brazil
Challenging "Reality" Through the Means of Art

A story by Milton Camilo

In my art, I expose the underlying tensions between concepts, identity and experiences. I want to challenge the audience and confront them with their taught beliefs, which they themselves have not even reflected on yet. Just as my reality and image of women is a rather powerful strong one (empoderamente), rather than the helpless, “petite” images we are trained to perceive as feminine. Read more...

Or read it in br fr

Gender

Challenging "Reality" Through the Means of Art

In my art, I expose the underlying tensions between concepts, identity and experiences. I want to challenge the audience and confront them with their taught beliefs, which they themselves have not even reflected on yet. Just as my reality and image of women is a rather powerful strong one (empoderamente), rather than the helpless, “petite” images we are trained to perceive as feminine.
Brazil, South America

Story by Milton Camilo
Published on June 22, 2020. Reading time: 4 minutes

This story is also available in br fr

#Identity #Gender #GenderRoles #empowerment #art

Milton Camilo

Milton Camilo

Gender Stories Worldwide

Move your mouse across the map to explore some of our correspondent's most recent stories.

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Explore Our Newest Stories

> India
LoveSexandTech

A story by Indu Harikumar

Through her online art and activism, Indu created space for survivors of intimate violence to share their stories and to share with them the ideas that helped her. Read more...

> Netherlands
Is It Our Fault?

A story by Nika

As a woman, it is inevitable that you will be harassed. It is difficult to know how to react in these moments. Embarrassment and humiliation can be more hurtful than anything else. Read more...

Or read it in cn

> Netherlands
Period Problems (or Lack Thereof)

A story by Tara Rane Mandemaker
English Audio available

By the time I turned 16 and still hadn’t gotten my first period, I had a suspicion that my body wasn’t like that of other girls. Read more...

Or read it in es

> India
Daughter of a Sex Worker

A story by Taniya Yadav
Long Read

In the society where I grew up, I was told that if somebody touched me or tried to misbehave with me, it was my fault, that I allowed them to do it. Read more...

Or read it in es it

> South Korea
How Drag Helped Me Find Identity and Community in Seoul

A story by Megan Rothnie

I already had a few Queer friends in Korea, but now I had a community, a way into Queer spaces and a place where I could exist as a Queer woman without worrying if I was being too flamboyant. Read more...

Or read it in nl

> Denmark
Applying the Lessons I Learnt in Anthropology to my Art

A story by Julie Celina Linnebjerg

I want to apply the lessons I learned in anthropology to my art, and give more attention to the underrepresented and marginalised. Read more...

Maria Sotiropoulou Gender
> Greece
The moment a girl becomes a woman: a story of psychological abuse - Part 2

A story by Maria Sotiropoulou

I want to advise people to start speaking up. The day I realized I was ready to talk was the day in which this little girl finally felt like a woman. Read more...

Or read it in de es

Maria Sotiropoulou Gender
> Greece
The moment a girl becomes a woman: a story of psychological abuse - Part 1

A story by Maria Sotiropoulou

I observed women around me falling over and over again. I did not think that at some point in my life I might fall too. Read more...

Or read it in de es

Shakila Dhauntal Gender
> Netherlands
When your Body and Beliefs are at Odds: the Religious Taboo of Menstruation

A story by Shakila Dhauntal

I know that talking about these traditions is hard. Yet, discriminatory practices will continue unless they are addressed. Read more...

> Nepal
Gender-Based Untouchability and Disaster Help in Nepal

A story by Chandra Bhadra

Article 1 of our constitution says everyone is eligible for a dignified life. If women are considered untouchables every month, where is their dignity? Read more...

Or read it in de es tr

> Australia
Memoir of a Beauty Queen

A story by Jemina Shrestha

Was I really going to fight to get validated for being the most worthy? The answer came in a big "NO." Read more...

Or read it in de tr

> United States
Gender-based Hiring in Engineering: Insulting Today, Inspiring Tomorrow

A story by Izzy Bauman

I have been fortunate to be shaped by incredible women in my field, and it is my conviction that with time, my experience will be less of an anomaly. Read more...

Or read it in it kr tr

> India
My Life as a Woman in India: Goddess of Many Virtues, Except Wealth

A story by Charu Thukral

Despite strongly standing to society’s demand of being a ‘superwoman’, my mom has hardly received appreciation for her efforts. Read more...

Or read it in de es

> Spain
Social and Interiorized Lesbophobia in Spain

A story by Laura Fernández Aguilera

It was interiorized lesbophobia, or having negative feelings about lesbianism while being a lesbian. As if the mainstream gaze was inserted as a judgment inside me. Read more...

Or read it in es

> Mexico
Being a Woman in South Korea and Mexico

A story by Olga Mata

I was shocked as I realized that authorities in Mexico would have never worried about my friends the way the Korean government now did. Read more...

Or read it in de kr

> Germany
Growing up in a Straight World

A story by Luca Kraus

Retrospectively, it comes as no surprise. Everything around me gave me the impression that there was only one sexuality within society. From tv shows I watched to books I read, couples and families I knew, conversations with my friends, and things that we were taught in school. Read more...

Or read it in de nl ru tr

> Morocco
The Girl in the Skirt

A story by Hajar Lassiliya

You may wonder what is it like to be a woman who lives in a country that lacks security? Read more...

Or read it in de it kr tr

> Netherlands
Does Dutch Tolerance Form a Barrier to the True Acceptance of Minorities?

A story by Hugo Oms

Gay men almost enjoy the same legal rights as heterosexuals and therefore are formally accepted. However, my personal experience has taught me that social acceptance of homosexuality is often dependent on numerous conditions. Read more...

Or read it in de it kr nl tr

> Australia
Bisexual Men: Do We Even Exist?

A story by Hal Fulcher

With so much recent acceptance of the idea of sexuality being a spectrum, the fact bisexual men even feel the need to defend our very existence seems very quaint in 2020. Read more...

Or read it in br de it kr nl ru

> Nepal
Gender-Based Untouchability

A story by Pabita Timilshina

If I had one wish, it would be for girls to be free, free to choose what they want to become, not to be dominated by men. Women to have their own voice without being ashamed of what society might think. Our place is not just in the kitchen or to have babies, we have our own lives. I wished for everyone to have the same rights. Read more...

Or read it in br de it tr

> Belize
Gender-neutral Toilets – A Safe Space Taken Away?

A story by Robin Schaffer

In the moment you face discrimination, harassment, and assault based on your breasts and the vulnerability of your vagina, it's your body they are after. Read more...

Global Issues Through Local Eyes

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We believe in quality over quantity. To give ourselves a focus, we started out to collect personal stories that relate to our correspondents' experiences with six different global topics. However, these topics were selected to increase the likelihood that the stories of different correspondents will cover the same issues and therefore illuminate these issues from different perspectives - and not to exclude any stories. If you have a personal story relating to a global issue that's not covered by our topics, please still reach out to us! We definitely have some blind spots and are happy to revise our focus and introduce new topics at any point in time. 

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Gender is the assumption of a "normal". Unmet expectations of what is normal are a world-wide cause for violence. We hope that the stories of our correspondents will help us to better understand the effects of global developments related to gender and sexuality, and to reveal outdated concepts that have been reinforced for centuries.

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Our correspondents write about migration because it is a deeply personal topic that is often dehumanized. People quickly become foreigners, refugees - a "they". But: we have always been migrating, and we always will. For millions of different reasons. By sharing personal stories about migration, we hope to re-humanize this global topic.

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We want to support the demand for justice by spotlighting the personal stories of people who seek liberation in all its different forms. Our correspondents share their individual experiences in creating equality. We hope that for some this will be an encouragement to continue their own struggle against inequality and oppression - and for some an encouragement to get involved.

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Corona Virus

2020 is a year different from others before - not least because of the Corona pandemic. The worldwide spread of a highly contagious virus is something that affects all of us in very different ways. To get a better picture of how the pandemic's plethora of explicit and implicit consequences influences our everyday life, we share lockdown stories from correspondents all over the world.

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