21 Illustrations By Lainey Molnar That Challenge Societal Norms Surrounding Femininity, Body Image, And More (New Pics)
Interview With ArtistLainey Molnar is an artist that creates thought-provoking illustrations exploring and challenging societal norms surrounding femininity, body image and more. From motherhood to freedom of choice, she tackles a variety of themes important to many.
Molnar is Hungary's first personal blogger. She's been involved in the fashion industry and women's empowerment projects for quite some time already. However, in her blogging days, she received a lot of hate and harassment, so that's when she decided to create a comic-style avatar as a representation of herself to help her process what she's been going through as a woman.
More info: Instagram | bylainey.com | tiktok.com | Facebook
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It honestly doesn’t impact you in any way if gay people get married or not. Just let them be happy
“I think gay couples should be allowed to marry. They should suffer just like us heterosexuals”" - American national treasure, Dolly Parton. I agree fully, marital suffering should be universal :)
Exactly, like if you have a point of view, it impacts YOU, not the people around you. Keep your opinions to yourself. They keep their opinions to themselves. Especially regarding the religion part - they don't even follow your religion, so why should they have to abide by your rules? (Coming from a religious person here)
Marriage has nothing to do with religion. Like you can marry and don't be religious. It is law construct where you get additional rights to part of your parter privacy and ownership.. more or less... IF THIS PERSON AGREE and understand it then it is no-one else's business.
Yeah. If gay people are against your religion, then that's your business. Leave other people alone.
When we asked Lainey about her source of inspiration, the artist revealed that her own experiences, as well as a variety of content creators, inspire her for new illustrations or comics. The artist has also shared that she has a long list of illustration ideas on her phone and she picks the one that makes her feel inspired at the moment of drawing.
Wouldn't it make more sense to show a woman with hairy legs here?
I as a guy don't understand this one. Who would ever tell someone else that sits disgusting who raised these people. I prefer my wife to save her legs (it's smoother) and she likes my face shaved it's called compromise. If I were gay I m sure there would be a similar preference discussion.
My mom did that to me. I was wearing capris and I don't like to shave my legs every day. She and my sister pointed out my hairy legs over and over, told me I had to shave if I wanted to show my legs. I pointed to my uncle in his shorts with his much hairy legs, and asked "what's the difference." They actually said "it's unhygienic for women to have hairy legs". Me:"again, what's the difference?" Amd then they played this card: its expected of women to have smooth legs! I have bright blue hair and my clothes are a very bright and eclectic collection. I stopped being what was "expected" of me decades ago.
IDK why all the boys I know are like this, I should use this come back
I shouldn't posted my love for real skin textures here! Lol LOVE IT!!!! ❤️🤗👏👏🥰👏
Have little purple veins on top of my thighs. They're my little lightning bolts!
Wait, the uterus is what makes that little tummy bulge that even skinny women have? How did I not know this?
I think the artist is trying to say that having an uterus occasionally causes us to bloat and get a tummy bulge during menstruation.
Load More Replies...I've seen literal babies with cellulite so could we stop focussing on it
my moms insecure abt them so I call them battle scars
Load More Replies...We were wondering if the artist has noticed some change in the messages she's trying to convey. "I believe the one thing that came up in a lot of my illustrations lately is double standards when it comes to women and men and how deeply they are embedded in society as the norm," Laney shared. "Like when a man has body hair, it's completely normal, but when a woman doesn't shave her armpit hair, it's suddenly 'unhygienic'. Or when a man puts himself out there firmly, he is called assertive, but a woman is called bossy. There are so many little things that add up to a system where women swim against the current and we don't even realize. My illustrations are a straightforward way to call these out and make people think."
There is such a stigma surrounding mental health is so many parts of the world. As someone who has struggled with ADHD and anxiety I've always been told to suck it up and stop complaining. Some people still view mental health as a "moral weakness." I was even told by my mum when I was younger that I was crazy...just because my brain works a bit differently then others. I don't think I will every forget those words and they are probably what turned me into such a perfectionist and overly ambitious person today. Words can truly hurt. We really need to end the stigma around mental health and nuerodivergency. Ps- To the arsehole who is downvoting people in this thread, get a damned life.
I wish this was true but the reality is that people (especially women) who are physically ill are often treated the same way mentally ill people are. Women have very long diagnostic windows and are usually told at least once that it's all in their head. Women who die from pregnancy complications often raise the alarm that something is wrong long before doctors look for a cause (if the doctors ever do) and being ignored often contributes to their deaths. Women are less likely to be given oxygen, pain killers, etcetera than their male counterparts even when the exact same conditions are met. For more information check out: •littlemissdiagnosed on tiktok, she's a surgeon at UVA and discusses medical gaslighting, issues women face when seeking diagnosis, etcetera. •Invisible Women: data bias in a world designed for men by Caroline Criado Pérez
Both are just as serious, but still aren't treated the same way
I always feel terribly uneasy about any memes that are based on the idea that "you wouldn't treat a physical health struggle like this!" because, friends... they do. While I feel love and community with mental health struggles (I have my own) the idea that people with physical health struggles get some rosy view of community is just not generally the case.
A coworker told me about all the help & support she got when battling cancer. Meanwhile, I was off work battling mental illness for 3 years, a manager described me as emotional, 'hard to work with' and immature. Told me not to come back to work until I was 'better'. Wait lists for psychiatrist and psychologist and then medical insurance covers only 10 visits per year.
Yes, but you have to understand that woman's skin is magical. Men cannot handle themselves if there is too much skin, an they will lose interest if there is too little. /s
But we don’t have to care about men they need to learn self control and they don’t need to judge on what someone is wearing
Load More Replies...Omg the issue with the Olympic team that chose to wear actual clothing blew my mind. Especially when you see them compared to the mens team. https://www.insider.com/handball-changing-women-dress-code-after-norway-fined-wearing-shorts-2021-11?amp
https://www.insider.com/handball-changing-women-dress-code-after-norway-fined-wearing-shorts-2021-11?amp
Load More Replies...According to Laney, the biggest misconception about women's bodies and mental health is that women's worth lies in "how they look or how their bodies are shaped". "We are conditioned from an early age that only petite princesses find their happily ever after and how good girls and decent women don't take up much space and are always well groomed, put together, and overall do everything in their power to match the (unrealistic) beauty standards. So much of what we do, even subconsciously - like sucking our bellies in, constantly fluffing our hair - is this constant chase of the ideal. It's a system that serves nobody and it needs to go."
It’s just this one guy edit : I mean in like all of the comics he says something sexist or insensitive
i need to find the guy on the right we will be bestfriends for ever and ever
By this logic, as a woman, I'm not responsible for what I'm going to do while completely sober.
So, if a woman goes out with her friends for drinks, she gets tipsy, and at the end of the night they go their separate ways and she's walking home and gets raped, you're saying it's her fault??? Because she drank too much? I hope this is not what you meant, and that I'm misunderstanding. Because it's pretty damn sick to blame the victim for rape no matter what the circumstances are. It doesn't matter how much a woman drinks, what she wears or what she says...it is NEVER the fault of the person who was raped!! Damn!
Load More Replies...This is absolutely true. Dude, you're not competing with other guys, you are competing with my love of sanity, peace, and freedom.
And when women - and there are plenty of them - post publicly saying “where have all the good men gone” and “why can’t I get a date” the answer men give is the EXACT same one that you’re giving so what does that tell you?
Load More Replies...I read a Quaker proverb (supposedly), “Thee knows it takes a mighty good husband to be better than none.”
As an aside, I love the fashion details! Big fan of Molnar's work anyway.
Yep, we all need to realise that if you want to be with someone you need to show that life with us in it is so much better than the life being lived without us in it. Otherwise, why would a person go to the trouble of rearranging everything they have going on?
You're competing with myself. You have to do a great job in convincing me why I actually need you when I can do everything on my own. In silence too.
Lainey is currently working on launching a podcast and building "a tiny little empire" of community to help women worldwide "redefine femininity on their own terms, so we can all be free to express ourselves and make life choices the way we want them. There is no wrong way to be a woman, you do you!"
From experience I can say that gender doesn't have an impact on competence, it depends the most on the individual and can't be limited to a group as big as "women" and "men"
I hate when people try to excuse boys bad behavior by saying that they don't mature as fast. It's such bs! Society pushes girls to mature faster.
All your other comments are trash so heres a good one :)
Load More Replies...Girls only develop faster in early puberty. Boys catch up before either reach adulthood. Are you saying that it's normal for adult men to be attracted to 10-14 year olds? If so, you're telling on yourself there. Most adult men aren't attracted to kids.
Load More Replies...This doesn't even make sense...one is safety at work which applies to both sexes the other is for personal safety..yes it is an absolute tragedy that women need rape alarms etc but there are bad people out there but don't dress this up as a comparison
The post says "when you Google them". And if you Google it this is pretty accurate. The point being that men in the US typically do not worry about rape and sexual assault happening to them the way women do since it disproportionately affects women.
Load More Replies...I'm very sorry that violence is such a problem in some parts of the world (especially since the Land of the Free is actually so far from peace and freedom), but it will remain so until the manhole is renamed the peoplehole. Or the 'Men at work' sign gets renamed to 'People at work'. In this particular case 'Men's safety items' is a unisex phrase while 'Women's safety items' is not.
If you'd like to see the previous parts, make sure to click here, here, here, here, here and here! Let us know your thoughts by commenting and upvoting your favorite illustrations!
"If he don't love you anymore Just walk your fine @$$ out the door"- Lizzo
wise words from one of the great queens (other then elizabeth)
Load More Replies...Ven, in an ideal situation that kind of communication is possible, however, often it's safer and better to just say yes and leave. If the s*x is bad: if I say no he might want to try again and I just want to go home. ^^^ this situation can be very dangerous and if it turns violent (as it sometimes can, not always, but often enough to have safeguards) There's a lot you can learn about a person during s*x, if concern about whether your partner was enjoying themselves only arise after the fact, that's generally when we say yes and leave, a selfish lover is never fun.
Clarifying here too, communication is so important in everything, if you're not communicating before, after and during the act, you probably shouldn't be having s*x
Load More Replies...Oooooh! Sriracha on ice cream! I'll be trying that this afternoon! Thank you!
But I do *not* want to be seen as beautiful. I want to be seen as competent, kind, funny, systematic. Just me ?
It makes me happy that Grammarly is the one to make this change...
Load More Replies...Every woman is beautiful to someone, but not all women are beautiful to everybody.
...which means that every woman is beautiful. Periodt.
Load More Replies...personally i don’t agree it’s not healthy to be fat?? your giving these people the wrong idea that’s it’s ok to be big when it’s not??
Nope! I'm paying my way. I can't have you thinking I "owe" you something.
I always offer to split the bill but the men always say no....
It really annoys me when people say "behind every great man is a great woman". Why should women have to be behind while the man is in front?
Back in the day, that's how it was! I'm old, I remember this! Glad it's changed.
Load More Replies...Technically true, but there often are people of BOTH genders behind someone. Edit to add since there is some confusion: People are missing the fact that I said "Often" not always. To clarify I meant that there are often people of both Genders behind a great person. I did not state that it was impossible to only have one gender and not the other.
so women can't be successful without men?! um... let's go rethink this shall we
Load More Replies...Hey starsailor, I don’t think this has much to do with us but I’m lending you an upvote cause the people downvoting you are ignorant idiots.
Load More Replies...I've been officially invisible since the age of 25 with my silver hair (my daughter calls it my unicorn hair). I like looking different and I'm quite happy not to get the annoying male attention any more, except from my cute husband. The pitying looks from other mums at kindergarten sometimes annoy me but that's their problem.
I know and see on a regular basis a knockout 78 yr old. I thought she was in her 60s!
Periods vary between people ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ mine isn't that bad most of the time
Slight tangent but did you know bats are one of the only other mammals that get periods?
Load More Replies...When I had mine (I no longer do due to an IUD), my life just freaking stopped once a month. My mother would have to stay home from school, hers were even worse and back in her day, ibuprofen was not attainable like it is now.
Yup, once saw a tampax ad where the woman went rollerblading and I said I was more likely to throw the Rollerblade than skate with them if it was tampax time x
I never take my pants off when I'm on it. I also hate showering, getting it in the spring (I sneeze a lot), and I try not to use the bathroom. It may not be healthy, but hey.
Bruh. If you bring up my period when I'm upset, prepare your a*s for my size 10 steel-toed boot. It's going in dry.
I just go into detail. Graphic detail. And I keep going until they walk away...or puke.
Load More Replies...I looked at the graphics before reading the captions. On the lower right I thought it was impolite to ask what woman's blood type was.
the first one my dad does and he gets mad when i pull away from him cause i hate being touched by most people
I know this isn’t related to the post but I really like that green dress
Who would do this? Tell me is you know someone who needs their a*s whooped
I'm confused: Why is hitting on someone without previous eye contact unacceptable? Why would previous eye contact make it OK to flirt? What about neurodivergent people who have issues with maintaining eye contact? Aspergers and such (I promise I am not making fun of those people, I am on the spectrum myself. I just didn't feel like typing the whole list)? I have trouble maintaining eye contact even with people I know and like, never mind with strangers (particularly in the context of flirting).
I think the point is not to come up to a woman you don't know out of nowhere, especially is she's out and about doing errands or enjoying herself with friends. It's sort of like getting an unsolicited call trying to sell you something. There are situations where a large amount of women have stated they'd prefer not to be approached at all, like at the gym, when they're out running, or when they're working in the service industry. I think the particular context of this picture asking for eye contact 1st would be like a bar, restaurant, or event. I don't know what to say about people with eye contact issues (I'm also ASD), just that as a woman it's off-putting and sometimes scary to have a guy come out of nowhere and lay it on thick.
Load More Replies...I must say..I lightly touch an arm when passing if the person doesn't move after I say, "excuse me..." Although cautious about that . Try to stay respectful since I'm in a military town, don't want to spook anyone. Iz hard..
Load More Replies...I only see a problem with the first if your waist is naked or the touch is prolonged. Obviously better if they don't but not worth being worried about. The eye contact one is weird. Not certain what I'm missing there.
Oh so much this. Even at 60 years old, I have a hard time telling the difference between genuine respect and just charming behavior. After a while it becomes clear, but in the beginning sometimes ......?
Respect should be held for everyone as a way of life. But, trust has to grow. Never trust anyone that you don’t know implicitly; that’s a sure fire way to find yourself in serious danger.
Me after morning coffee versus me when the kids woke me up in the morning 🤣🤣
I don’t know how to be kind with myself at all. There’s a battle going on in my head everyday between 2 sides. The side that believes that I’m a narcissist and a s****y person and the other side who thinks I’m fine. The wrong side is winning
It helped me to talk about myself in the third person, treating myself as if I was someone else and making decisions for myself by calling me by my own name instead of I or me. I slowly realised I treated everyone fairly except myself until I pretended I was someone else. It alienated several people to hear me talking about Sonja as if she was not me, but that was easier to handle than being kind to myself. It was a lot easier to accept that Sonja was tired and needed a break than accepting that I was tired and allowing myself a break. And I already firmly believed that I was strange and everyone thought so too so not much change on that front. Does it work for everyone? Surely not. But worked for Sonja.
Load More Replies...I love how in the 2nd panel she has stretch marks and in the 4th she has a scar (maybe from breast cancer surgery? )
Right? That’s why I love this artist so much. Effortless diversity.
Load More Replies...Taking myself out to dinner is a pleasure! I went away for business at the beginning of the month for almost a week, every night I took myself out to dinner and just enjoyed myself on my own and in my choices (except at one place, had too much noise)
And 1, 2, 4 can all be part one experience. 3 also but I don’t see three well. I’ve never been able to be really interested in sex in the first place as a means of gaining comfort. And I’m not confident enough for one and my own company, I’m am scared to live alone (had a really bad fall where I was probably out for several hours. Im happier and safer. He’s only my friend (not a cougar) but having him in the same space,. It cmakes me feel safer. And he’s disabled so we’re each other’s caregiver. Oh, and did relate to 2. I’m definitely intimately fond of all my little friends. Oh, also, 59+f.who wouldn’t mind finding someone - who doesn’t mind that I’m weird.
Okay but tell me why I like the first picture better that the second one.. like, that guy is absolutely ROCKIN’ the skirt and tats. I wish I could do that 😩😭
People that get all tore up over people they don't even know -who are different than what they consider is " normal", must not be able to sleep at night ; too worried about what pronoun a person is using two states over from them. What happened to live and let live, and mind your own backyard?
I am a biological woman who has no idea what it means to 'feel like a woman' but if someone else does they should embrace it because. Well, why not?
I can make it make sense. The person making the comments has a massive problem with toxic masculinity/femininity.
first its called transgenderism second that man is fire with that skirt
Never understood why clothes have to have a gender label. Who cares as long as people are covered up? If it makes a guy happy wearing a skirt, don't kill his joy. Same with women wearing masculine clothing. Most people's logic is just dead at this point.
The ridiculousness of the perceived weight issue was fundamental to the plot line. It was deliberately highlighting the very point you're trying to make by comparing it with real life.
I don't think that movie was that self aware. The 90's and early 2000's expected women to be extremely skinny, like a size 2-4 and no butt. Jennifer Lopez was considered thick and curvy. I know the movie is a bit over the top about it and its made into a running joke but it's very much in step with how society was at the time.
Load More Replies...I love how the artist actually created textures that appear on real skin!!! I think this is a first!! (Aside from supervillains in other comics). 👏🤗👏🤗❤️
lol im a tall teenager 65+ kg and i dont see myself as fat, i love my body and dont want to change it!
For anyone wondering what 59 KG is in pounds: 130 pounds. This is insane to think about compared to 2023's more body positive (somewhat anyway, at least compared to 2001) attitudes.
As a teen in the late 90's I was 5'11 and 150lbs while being a very active top athlete in my state (in the US) and it was considered very unfeminine and fat to be over 120lbs regardless of height or muscle tone. We never shared our weight because of how much shaming there was.
Load More Replies...It makes me mad that so many people with actually good arguments are downvoted because they don't agree with something that's sexist. Portraying women as saints is sexist, portraying men as saints is sexist, saying either is worth less is sexist. Men, women and everyone else is human and should not be judged as a group but as an individual.
Hmm. I am not trying to be rude here, but I don’t see any of these comics that portray all men as jerks? Most of them are encouraging women to have confidence or disagreeing with something SOME men say. Calling out jerks for being jerks doesn’t make all men jerks. I hope I am not offending anyone with this comment, just trying to be positive :)
Load More Replies...It makes me mad that so many people with actually good arguments are downvoted because they don't agree with something that's sexist. Portraying women as saints is sexist, portraying men as saints is sexist, saying either is worth less is sexist. Men, women and everyone else is human and should not be judged as a group but as an individual.
Hmm. I am not trying to be rude here, but I don’t see any of these comics that portray all men as jerks? Most of them are encouraging women to have confidence or disagreeing with something SOME men say. Calling out jerks for being jerks doesn’t make all men jerks. I hope I am not offending anyone with this comment, just trying to be positive :)
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