Recently I came across an anti-obesity campaign in Atlanta Georgia, strong4life, released this photo as part of its ad campaign to stop childhood obesity. The poster (shown here) is of a heavier young girl, but the unflattering camera angle makes the girl seem even heavier then she is. The girl in the black and white photo stands with her arms crossed, and with an an angry look on her face. Bright red letters read “warning, its hard to be a little girl if you’re not.” It seems to me that this photo suggests that to enjoy your childhood as an average American girl, you must be skinny.The word that most sticks out to me is little. It refers to being little in age, and in size. The way the ad uses it as a play on words, puts an emphasis on it. Making the distinction that in order to be a child or "little" girl, you must in fact be skinny or "little". Is this poster telling us that in order to fit into American society you must be skinny? I know many people say that Americans are pressured to look like barbie, and be fit and thin, but we are getting the same message from anti-obesity campaigns as well! Will my love for cheeseburgers cause me not be able to fit into our society!?
Wow Carolyn!! Interesting ad. I think that it all goes to an extent. While it is nearly impossible for people to look like barbie (and unhealthy), I think that people do need to be healthy. If kids are eating McDonalds every single day and are overweight, maybe something should be done about it to help their futures. Childhood obesity can lead to endless problems in their future so it should be stopped as early as possible. This doesn't mead that kids should be dieting or even thinking about it but they should be learning how to live a healthy life style.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Carolyn, that this ad is a harsh approach to obesity and overweight children. However, I also agree with Isabel that to a certain extent, to eat healthy and stay in shape is important to one's health and is ultimately essential to avoid sickness. Although not everyone has the money for healthy food, and McDonalds is all they can afford. So it may not be something that everyone can control. But for those who can, they should be staying in shape and eating right to stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you and I think it is an interesting argument to bring up. I also think that the fact that the child in the ad is a girl rather than a boy can show us something about American's views on women's physical appearance. Perhaps the strong4life campaign chose a girl on purpose to be in this ad because they knew it would have a bigger impact. From a young age, girls are told they should be skinny and pretty, from the celebrities they follow, the books they read, and the TV shows they watch. I think this fear Americans have of having imperfect, maybe even slightly heavier, women makes this ad even more powerful because the little girl does not look like most females in the media.
ReplyDeleteEmily I found your point to be interesting, so I looked up anti-obesity campaigns. I found that these Georgia campaigns feature four different children, two boys and two girls. However, even though boys are featured, none of the captions said anything about being a "little boy" which I think supports your claim that girls are viewed differently in our society. I also noticed that no other campaigns show the face of children to try to "warn" people not to be obese. A lot of the time people become obese because of an emotional reason, such as being bullied. I find these posters to be a form of bullying. What child wants to be shown as the obese kid with mean captions written below? That can seriously damage a child's confidence and self-worth. I understand that these children weren't forced to be photographed, but I still don't think calling children fat is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, Good job blogging overall this term. I like your topic here very much and the way you analyze the word "little" . I agree with Maddie that there is a powerful gender angle to pursue. Do we, as a society, want big boys and little girls? It might be nice to link to a different source to put two voices in conversation with each other here -- or maybe this idea suggests a follow-up post?
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