http://www.medicalbillingschool.org/blog/50-vintage-std-propaganda-posters
After today's class period, I decided to search for examples of more controversial STD/STI prevention posters from the WWI-WWII period. I was most interested in those which, like the last South African poster we viewed, portrayed masculinity in this almost comic "action hero" kind of way. What I found was pretty shocking in itself. Not only were the soldiers the posters were targeted to called to assume this ridiculous caricature of manhood ("you kept fit and defeated the Hun"), but they consistently objectified women and dichotimized between the "good girl" and the "bad girl." The "98% of Procurable Women have VD" poster was especially disgusting. Women were consistently shown as the only group which spreads venereal diseases, and very rarely in the gallery is any kind of blame put upon the men in the situation. Examples such as the "Don't be her pin-up boy" poster, and the "easy girl-friend" ad, are especially bad.
Perhaps for us the most relevant poster is the one reading "8 out of 10 dead or syphilitic" and "9 out of 10 healthy and normal," referring to untreated and treated mothers respectively. Its statistics, while they may have been true for the period on some level, seem outrageously skewed and manipulatively marketed. Notice how "untreated mothers" and "treated mothers" is in a much smaller print than the other words. As you go through the gallery, try to look critically at each poster. How do you think teenagers, specifically those with an STI, would have reacted to seeing themselves depicted as being so wild and dangerous? Can you think of other criticisms or examples of posters where women are especially portrayed as being out unable to control their own sexuality?
--Greg W.
It blows my mind the negative portrayal that they put on woman in these posters and the ones we went over in class. People don't always get a STI from being unsafe or "sleeping around." There are tons of individuals who are raped and may contract a STI. Individuals who have a STI and see a poster like this would be devastating. In the same situation, there are 15 year old girls who are looked down on in society for being mothers, but what if she got raped? I dont feel like society would look down on her then, and look at her as a very strong teenage mother. Posters, societies, and individuals in the community should help others out and raise awareness instead of making those who have STI afraid to say anything and then giving it to others.
ReplyDelete- Shelby Monroe
This makes me sick! I do not think teens would think much about this... I think they would make fun of them and laugh. The teens that have an STI would be so ashamed and i feel like it wold make them think twice about seeking help. I think these posters are just mean for teens. They will be afraid to tell people or their future partners after seeing these.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note to shelbys post... studies show that only 1% of rape victims end up pregnant because most of the time their bodies shut down after being raped. That being said what if they get an STI from the person who raped them? I feel like that would make their life very hard.
-brittany White
Also I missed a blog... do you guys know what the website is to make those up? I wrote it down I just cant find it!
ReplyDelete-brittany white
I agree with Shelby. According to an article Statistics on teens one in two rape victims are under the age of 18 and one in four sexually active teens get STIs. But does it mean all of them are "bad"? As Shelby mentioned, people just dont get STIs by "sleeping around". We dont know the circumstances. Its funny to me how people always blame women for spreading all these diseases. This also brings me to 16&Pregnant show. I watched about 8 episodes of 16 & Pregnant and they not even once talk about STIs ?(nor about contraceptives!)
ReplyDelete--Disha Jetani