After a Facebook group in Malaysia warned Tamil women to dress appropriately or face getting spray painted on the festival of Thaipusam, an artist, Ruby Subramaniam, etched Hindu godesses on women's bodies in protest.
"Over the last few years in Malaysia, we've had many incidents about women's attire that has made national news. From knee-length skirts in government offices to getting stopped from attending their children's graduation in a local university because she was wearing pants, and there's the whole ordeal last year about saree, being too sexy to be worn in official government functions. We have evolved, but seems to be that our ideas of gender has not changed," said Subramaniam on Facebook.
The art project, thisbodyismine, was inspired by the movement skinisthenewcanvas, she said.
"Yes, I figured I might as well be painting on women's bodies, at least I'll do a better job than the boys threatening to spray paint us," she said.
She has based her project on the concept of "Tri-Devi goddesses" in Hinduism -- Saraswathy, the creator, Lakshmi, the preserver and Parvathy (Kali) -- the destroyer.
