ARTIST GIVES MEN A TASTE OF THEIR OWN SEXIST POISON

“In a Parallel Universe.” is a photo series created by Eli Rezkallah, a 31-year-old artist and photographer from Beirut, Lebanon. The series takes sexist vintage ads from the mid-20th century and switches the gender roles in order to highlight the absurdity of gender inequality. Rezkallah got the idea when he visited family in New Jersey for Thanksgiving. During dinner, Rezkallah had a hard time stomaching one particular conversation.

“I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen and fulfilling ‘their womanly duties’. Although I know that not all men think that way, I was surprised to learn that some still do. So I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison.”

After hearing his uncles’ conversation, it became apparent for Rezkallah that even in today’s world, we still have not achieved equality of the sexes yet. He decided to highlight this point by using ads from the “Mad Men” era.

“Although those ads were made in the ’50s and some people perceive them as vintage, the moment I heard my uncles’ conversation, it felt that their essence is still present in the folds of today’s modern social fabric,” he said. “I thought that the only way to make people like them understand what is wrong is by simply communicating it visually by simply reversing the gender roles.”

Rezkallah, who considers himself a feminist, hopes that his photos will spark change.

“I hope that people who are stuck in stereotypical gender roles imposed by patriarchal societies will be able to visually see the cracks in the limitation that those roles carry through this project,” he said.

To find out more about his work, please visit his website.