A German artist named Elonë Kastratia slapped period pads on traffic signs throughout Karlsruhe, Germany.
“Imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they are with periods,” she wrote across some of the sanitary napkins.
Kastratia first saw the message tweeted by user cutequeer96 in September 2014, MTV reported, and was inspired.
Her controversial use of the pads served as a springboard to raise awareness about gender equality, the elimination of rape culture and ending the objectification of women.
The period pads displayed moving phrases from “Rapists rape people not outfits,” to “You would look so pretty if you… NO.”
Period pads are typically seen as taboo objects for women, who are generally expected to be discreet about their period. It is a natural, inescapable part of being a woman, yet so many women are raised to feel embarrassed about it.
If women are to be overtly sexualized in the media, a woman’s body should at least be celebrated in all its glory.
Kastratia originally shared her feminist project on Tumblr, and then began posting the period pads on International Women’s Day, which is Mar. 8.
The photo of her proudly flaunting her “My pussy. My choice.” sanitary napkin has been shared over 100,000 times since it was posted in the beginning of March.
Although Kastratia’s unconventional mission inspires most people, she has received some abusive comments on her Tumblr page.
“I’ve gotten many nice responses from very nice people all over the world. I also got bad responses saying I hate men or am seeking attention,” she said, according to the Huffington Post. “I really don’t care, because I don’t hate men at all. For me, feminism means equality. As for the attention thing, I wanted to get attention on this thing!”
Kastratia’s powerful project has spread to Brazil, Sweden and the United States, as she has encouraged other men and women to post their own pad messages online, thus fighting media with social media.
I engaged in a similar campaign to raise awareness for the rights of children worldwide. I would simply leave my daughter’s dirty diapers wherever I had changed them (usually the beach, as it was summer).