Artist fights street harassment through photos depicting Goddesses

It's ironic that men who worship female deities would harass women. But that's exactly what one Malaysian artist is fighting against through a photo series depicting Hindu Goddesses.

Ruby Subramaniam created the photo series in response to a Facebook group that was set up to threaten Hindu women with spray paint, should they be "inappropriately dressed" during Thaipusam.

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Thaipusam is a festival of devotion, where Hindus commemorate the occasion when the Hindu Goddess Parvati gives the Hindu God of war Murugan a spear, to vanquish an evil demon. The festival is celebrated in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Sri Lanka on the full moon day of the Tamil month of Thai.

The photo series, titled "This Body Is Mine", attempts to fight body-policing by giving a contemporary art spin to Hindu Goddesses.

The series of nine photos focuses on women reclaiming and embracing their inner Goddesses, according to the self-taught artist, who prefers to be called Ruby. The women represent various deities in Hindu culture -- Lakshimi, the preserver; Kali, the destroyer; and Saraswathi, the creator -- and have their bodies painted with various motifs.

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She has studied Hindu symbolism from a young age, and found it to be a great tool for self-discovery.

"When you study about the Hindu Godesses, the holy texts often speak about her character and [she would] be surrounded by elements that embodied those values," she said. "None of those texts reveal information about the length of her saree blouse, or any other part of her attire, except colours that she wore," she said.

Ruby added that if ancient depictions of goddesses in India were to come to life, they would also be considered provocative, asking "how do you put your palms together and worship these deities, but give no respect to the women who embody those values?"

Ruby Subramaniam (left) paints on model Rathimalar Govindarajoo (right) in preparation for her depiction as Saraswathi. Credit: Kenny Loh

She felt threatened and angry when she first heard about the group of men that threatened to spray women with paint. "Is this the biggest issue our society is going through?" Ruby said. "And how long before this turns into a society that would normalise acid attacks on women?"

Ruby has faced many instances of body-policing in Malaysia, a country with increasingly strict dress codes on women.

"I've been told to leave in government offices although I was wearing a formal dress that fell an inch above my knee," she said. "I'm tired of having to think of what others would think of me when I choose to wear something."

She adds: "Can't I just choose to wear what makes me look good? Is that too much to ask?"

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