A French artist is using a sexist comment from her past to fuel pro-women messaging in her artwork today.

France Corbel, a 21-year-old woman from Bretagne, France, was recently profiled in Mic for creating drawings that defy gender stereotypes. She felt compelled to do this project because a male artist previously called her work "girly." Now, she has created a series of photos published on her Tumblr and Instagram pages that call out the inherent sexism behind those comments:

France's drawings address many other issues affecting women, including a woman's right to her own body and struggles with the patriarchy:

She challenges societal beauty standards for women in her work:

She even takes on subway "manspreading":

Corbel told ATTN: via email that even though she has received many positive reactions to her drawings, she has gotten some criticism from trolls along the way.

"I received a message telling me that I was an 'attack helicopter,' an offensive meme about the diversity of gender and sexual identities," she wrote. "But the aggressive messages are rare."

Her photos have continued to get ample love from commenters on Instagram.

Instagram - instagram.com

Corbal told ATTN: that "girly" is often unfairly viewed in a negative light.

"'Girly' is related to young girls and they are so commonly seen as vain, many things related to them is mocked," Corbel wrote. "I would prefer to tell people who [have] been told that they were too girly or not enough that there's no shame in being feminine or not. You can put glitter on everything, it doesn't mean that you're weak or less smart. I want young girls to listen to whatever music they like and not being mocked for it, I want every gender to wear girly clothes and still be taken seriously. It's just the same thing as doing something 'like a girl' is doing something wrong."

Other people have previously criticized the phrase "like a girl."

Two years ago, feminist products brand Always created a viral ad campaign titled #LikeAGirl to fight the negative connotation surrounding the phrase. In the campaign video, a series of adults and kids are told to do certain activities "like a girl" would. Many of the adults take this exercise as an opportunity to act silly and inept. The little girls, meanwhile, carry out the activities with strength and confidence, as if doing something "like a girl" is nothing to be ashamed of.

One little girl is at a loss for words when asked whether "like a girl" sounds like a good or a bad thing.

"I actually don't know what it really — if it's a bad thing or a good thing," the girl says. "It sounds like a bad thing. It sounds like you're trying to humiliate someone."

Check out more of Corbel's art here.

[H/T Mic]