MYKLE PARKER

Rage 4 Rights

California, United States • mykleparkerphotography.com

  • Rage 4 Rights is an ongoing series documenting the controversial group Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and its dedication to the fight for equality and access to free/safe legal abortions available to all women in the United States through daring, nonviolent, disruptive protest that illuminate that rage women are feeling after Roe vs. Wade was overturned.

    I bear witness to this movement as a feminist heeding the call to document the continued fight for women, non-binary, and trans rights. The images I see coming out of the current abortion movement are predominantly shot by men; solid work but not reflective of the rage we are feeling. As a woman I have bleed for decades, almost died in childbirth, and been told that I could not have a hysterectomy, regardless of the excruciating pain and bleeding I was experiencing, because I was of “childbearing age”. My experience as a woman is not unusual. My ability to comfortably discuss taboo and stigmatized subjects without shame, is.

    My goal for this project is to document the movement and amplify voices typically underrepresented, such as women, non-binary, and trans. Often, the conversation of women’s health is compartmentalized by stigmas and taboos. Instead of our society having a clear concise understanding to the physical trauma women experience with their bodies, its significance has been trivialized to a romanticized picture of happy women excited to have babies... at any cost, including our own death. The reality is far from the truth.

    The desired outcome of this series is to explore questions we are not comfortable talking about and provide a safe space for those who feel alone in their unbridled emotions at the loss of our rights. As I connect and collaborate with others, our voice strengthens, and address the real question of “why are women not trusted to make all decisions for their own bodies... As men have always done for themselves.”

  • Digital images, inkjet prints 20 inches on the long edge.