Eli Rezkallah is a 31-year-old visual artist/photographer who recently created a photo series entitled, "In a Parallel Universe" that reimagines sexist ads from the mid-20th century with the gender roles reversed.
The ads feature situations like burning dinner...
...serving...
...to literally, spanking.
Speaking with BuzzFeed, Rezkallah explained the origin story of his project,
Last Thanksgiving, I was visiting my family in New Jersey and 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 like my uncles think that way I was surprised to learn that some still do.
He continued, "These ads were made in the '50s and it felt at that moment that their essence is still present in the folds of today's modern social fabric."
"So, I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison."
And what does the talented Lebanon-based artist hope audiences will take away from this?
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.
