Amnesty International has launched an ad campaign to raise awareness about the practice of genital cutting. The imagery is effective, but I’m interested to see what readers think of the use of the vagina/flower parallel and whether or not the message behind the campaign overrides the possibility of it being problematic?
Plus: How to get published, pay for school, and bind your own books.
Save time and money. Get Shameless delivered straight to your door.
Sign up for e-mails about big Shameless news and events. We won’t give out or sell your address to anyone.
Shameless is an independent magazine with a very small budget. In addition to purchasing a subscription or back issues, you can support us through donations.
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
two comments
Gah. Those ads are a bit sickatating (hello Grade 6!) but I suppose that's the point. Yah, I'm not crazy about equating vulvas with flowers, but I wouldn't say I find this ad offensive.
FGM/C is one of those things that I don't know what to think of - on the one hand from my p.o.v. it seems totally awful and terrifying, on the other hand it's a cultural practice that some women actually opt to undergo, so in that sense how do we criticise it, and show solidarity for women who don't want it, without being culturally insensitive?
Posted by Thea
November 30, 2007, 4:15 PM
Thea - thanks for making the vulva/flower parallel for me. I should review my female biology handbook immediately. Vulva! I meant vulva!
Posted by Stacey May
November 30, 2007, 4:27 PM
Leave a comment
This blog post is older than 90 days old. All comments submitted regarding this post will be automatically held for review by the editors before posting. Your comment will not appear on the site until it has been approved.
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.