than trying to change male behavior. I'm speaking of the artwork specifically but Taty can certainly correct me if she wishes.
When I first saw what she was doing a while back, I was like yes... that's exactly what I was thinking. That's exactly what I work for, what I advocate. It was like another voice in our corner, another voice in the chorus. It's empowering and strengthening. If someone walks past one of those signs and is like "yeah, I'm not alone. I don't deserve this. I don't need this" then great. I think something has been accomplished. Of course it's even better if a dude walks by and has some aha moment but I'll settle for him just thinking for a moment, "hmm, what could be wrong with telling a woman to smile?" There are many ways to spark a conversation and this is one of them. Not every debate results in one party changing their mind (as nearly every post on OKP can attest) but I think there's value in displaying the various viewpoints.
To me, this artwork is one of many ways to place this viewpoint into the public discourse. The conversation is happening. We're having it now here. It's happening in groups and between couples. Among friends. On Twitter. On Tumblr. etc.