i'll give you a smile...

I drew it the afternoon before I found out about the passing of Robin Williams and felt it wasn't appropriate to submit it at the time. In the wake of that, the mood I felt for this piece has smoldered away, in a sense.
I submit this now because I appreciate the technical characteristics of it, and I love doing black and white digital realism, so I figure this can still make a decent addition to my gallery.

I would like to express what it means to me, though.
I'm not a violent person. I hate fighting, I wish for it all to end, I can't even stand it when people talk rudely to each other. I try to be as pacifistic as possible and treat everyone I know with kindness. But the outrageous amount of violence, disrespect, and harassment against women that occurs worldwide pisses me off, to put it simply. And I deserve to be pissed off.

This drawing is my response to all that chaos. It means: "I'd like to see you try to lay a hand on me, I'd like to see you try to get away with treating me like an object. I am not an object, I am a human woman, and I will defend myself like one. I will fight to the death to protect myself from you if I have to. I hope to God it never comes to that, I hope someday we can all put the violence and hatred behind us forever. But if you tell me to smile, I'll give you a smile. A red one around your neck. Now turn around, walk away, and do not come back."