A couple months ago, author Danielle Sepulveres and her friend, illustrator Maritza Lugo, collaborated on a campaign dedicated to Cervical Cancer Awareness. To highlight the issue in a fun and accessible way for young women, they created a series called “Disney Princesses Go To The Gynecologist“, which portrayed famous female characters of the Disney canon doing everything from getting the HPV vaccine to family planning to going for a routine gynecological exam. Of course it was covered by numerous news outlets (as many things about Disney princesses are)–but Sepulveres said in the aftermath, many people wanted to know if they would be doing a series that targeted young boys as well.
“A big part of the failings of sex education in this country and beyond is that we tend to frame it as a woman’s problem,” Sepulveres said in a post on her blog about the series. So when she and Lugo teamed up again, they decided that comic book superheroes would be the characters highlighted in a series all about “Get Yourself Tested” month–which actually started yesterday, April 1st.
The illustrations feature characters like Batman, Superman, Iron Man and Pepper Potts–not to mention Deadpool, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones! You can check out the entire series on Sepulveres’ blog at the link, but here are just a few of our favorites below:
The Jessica Jones/Luke Cage illustration serves a dual purpose as it also ties into Sexual Assault Awareness Month. “We have superhero Jessica Jones at her appointment with her superhero partner Luke Cage who not only stands by her, but his unwavering support is a reminder of why we need to believe women and teach the importance of consent in sex education programs everywhere,” Sepulveres wrote.
In an email to TMS, Sepulveres explained that the purpose of both series is to emphasize the importance of sex education and health in a unique and interesting way for young adults–or anyone who loves Disney princess and superheroes. “We want to start a conversation that people tend to shy away from or refuse to have and the traditional ways of attempting to do so are not that effective. We are going outside the box with creativity and pop culture to get people talking about the importance of sex ed and sexual wellness.”
(images via Maritza Lugo)
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