Free from Judging Eyes
by Viviana De Cecco, Italy
This drawing symbolizes the fear of being judged by others that plagues many girls and women in our society. It depicts eyes with various expressions that criticize the female body, as is increasingly common on social media and in real life. Such gazes can make girls and women feel inadequate and wrong. The drawing highlights how such gazes, especially when directed at girls, make them feel as if their bodies are wrong.
Viviana De Cecco is a writer, translator, language teacher and visual artist. She was the second-place winner of Sunlight Press Magazine’s 2024 Photography Contest and Best of The Net 2026 with her photo “Sardinian Crane Flower”. Her visual art appeared as cover art or interior illustration in Tint Journal, Orange Rose Mag, Zoetic Press, Ink in Thirds, Mud Season Review, Ink Nest Poetry (Cover Art), Acta Victoriana, Double Speak Magazine, among others. Her fiction and translations have also appeared in Double Speak Magazine, Yuvoice.org, Allyourstories, Hiraeth Magazine, The Polyglot Magazine, Poets' Choice, Azonal Translation, among others.