A diverse group of women stripped off for photographs with just a ballot covering their privates as part of a campaign to urge people to vote Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections.
Ten women took part in the series called ‘Grab Them By The Ballot’ hoping the powerful images will encourage people to cast their ballot on November 6.
Dawn Robertson, 48, decided to organize the photo shoot with a cast of diverse women of different sizes, sexual orientations and races after #MeToo allegations against prominent figures continued to rise.
She said the Republican party’s attack on women’s reproductive rights and transgender people’s rights also played a part.
And she named her campaign with a play on President Donald Trump’s now-infamous comments while aboard an Access Hollywood bus.
A diverse group of women stripped off for photographs to urge people to vote Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections
They posed with just a ballot covering their privates for a ‘Grab Them By The Ballot’ campaign
The Harvard Law graduate found her models, including a transgender woman, a Latina, an abduction survivor and one who is pregnant on social media and the street.
Melodi Blackbird, 44, Susan Lipkin, 65, Gina Carerra, 56, Tara Beach, 34, Alexandra Martin, 31, Nyla Smith, 22, Gina Higgins, 37, Courtney Blasius, 31, a transgender woman who goes by the initial Z, 28, and Robertson all posed nude with ballots placed strategically in front of their genitals.
They also took part in solo portraits with a single prop to represent themselves as part of the shoot on October 28.
Robertson, the founder, of a recruitment company, said: ‘With the Kavanaugh nomination and MeToo and Trump, women are rising everywhere.
‘What the Republicans are doing to transgender rights, the way they are attacking women’s reproductive rights and the collective trauma means that women are really coming to the forefront now.
They also took pictures with a single prop to represent themselves during the shoot last month
Pregnant Gina Higgins and 22-year-old Nyla Smith pose nude for one of the photos in the series
‘I hope that the pictures encourage women and marginalized communities to vote. I want them to know that their voice matters and this is serious s***.’
Robertson, who writes about sexuality and relationships, said she was inspired by photographer Anja Shutz’s 2016 series of nude photographs – called Grab Him By The Ballot – where women posed naked with strategically positioned ballots.
That series was in response to Trump’s infamous remark that he could ‘grab women by the p****.’
Robertson said ‘The difference is we are saying it’s not just Trump, it’s Kavanaugh and all the alleged abusers who have been exposed by the Me Too movement.’
She recruited her models on social media and even at a grocery store.
‘I pounded the pavement the night before the shoot because a woman had cancelled,’ she said.
Dawn Robertson (left) and a transgender woman who goes by the initial Z (right) in their solo portrais
‘I went up to a woman in a market and asked her to pose for me and she said yes. People in real life were actually far more receptive to the idea than communities online.’
She also said she faced backlash for the shoot.
‘I faced a lot of backlash when I tried to recruit a diverse group of women,’ she said.
‘I was told I was objectifying women, that nudity equals promiscuity and even that I was playing the part of a white savior. But I don’t think that the pictures oversexualise the women.
‘Nudity is fine, being naked is a natural expression. Men have sexualized and monetized women’s bodies but these pictures give the power back to the woman.’
Robertson, who writes about sexuality and relationships, said she was inspired by photographer Anja Shutz’s 2016 series of nude photographs. Pictured, Gina Higgins
Melodi Blackbird (left) and Tara Beach (right) were among the women who posed nude
Z, a Jewish transgender woman, said that she took part in the risqué shoot to raise awareness of how the Trump administration is treating the transgender community.
She said: ‘I’m doing this to raise awareness about the impact voting has on the lives of people who are the target of erasure, violence, bigotry, oppression in all of its forms.
‘Donald Trump’s administration is aggressively trying to define transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people out of existence.
‘I’m optimistic that this photo shoot will serve as a starting point for more women to claim their bodies.’
Last week, the administration announced it was considering legally defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.
Trump has also sought to ban transgender people from serving in the military.
Gina Carerra, 56, a Latina artist, said she had taken part in the photo shoot to raise awareness of the vulnerability of minorities under the Trump presidency.
She said: ‘I identify as Latina although I am blended with Egyptian, indigenous and Italian as well.
‘I think these times merit that everybody gets out and votes. This is a time when millions of marginalized people, disabled, elderly, people of colour and indigenous women are all being negatively affected by this current regime.’
Democrats are vying for control of Congress with a narrow chance that they could take back control of the Senate too in the midterm elections next week.