French Artist and Illustrator Breaks Down the Stigma and Stereotypes About Women with Her Empowering Drawings

These realistic illustrations represent harsh situations that every woman has faced at least once in her lifetime.

Stephanie

Published in Cartoons / Anime
29 Oct 2021

French Artist and Illustrator Breaks Down the Stigma and Stereotypes About Women with Her Empowering Drawings

If we look back throughout history, beauty standards have been dictated, such as the famous one where 60-90-60 are considered “the ideal measurements of a perfect woman.” This only shows us that these high expectations have always been present and will very likely continue to be present in the future as well.

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But this French artist found a way to fight against them; she uses her illustrations to show that women are not ideal and that we need to accept and embrace that. This is her unique way of revealing the hidden side of a woman that society does not want to see.

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Born and raised in France, Cécile Dormeau graduated from the design school Estienne in Paris and began her career as a graphic designer and illustrator in design agencies in Germany. She first lived in Hamburg and later moved to Berlin to pursue her career there.

Subsequently, she worked as a junior art director at the advertising agency Ogilvy One in Frankfurt. Not particularly fond of her job, that’s when she decided to move back to France and do what she loves most: drawing.

In 2015, she began creating illustrations that depicted the female body as it is. The themes of her bold drawings include body positivity, self-acceptance, fighting insecurities, and celebrating imperfection in general.

We’ve selected some of her fascinating illustrations just for you. Please enjoy.

1. Mental health is very important.

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2. Books are people's best friends, alongside furry ones, of course.

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3. Exclusive COVID-19 edition.

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4. Learn how to love yourself just the way you are.

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5. Listen up, folks; this is not how fighting depression works, so please stop.

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6. Not the scenario she was hoping for.

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7. You don’t have to feel pressured by those hyped individuals; it is okay.

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8. Feminine and also feminine.

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9. A vicious circle.

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10. You have to follow COVID-19 regulations.

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11. Body positivity is important.

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12. Expressing your opinion is also important.

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13. Equal standards for both women and men.

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14. Socializing can be hard sometimes.

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15. Not everyone is good at sports.

In 2020, Cécile faced a creative block.

As she mentioned in one of her interviews, “After accumulating professional creative projects that weren't very stimulating, along with the pressure from Instagram (to post all the time and receive likes constantly), I actually lost inspiration last year. You add that to the pandemic climate, and I was just unable to create anymore; I felt empty.But I realize now that this is how life works: in cycles. There will be periods of time when you are super creative, followed by times when you are unable to create anything. You just have to embrace it, rest, take care of yourself, and it will come back!” 15. Not everyone is good at sports.