by Silvia Musso
Is it another exploitation of the female image, or an effective media campaign? What is the line between mere use of a naked female body and an artistic nude used for a noble cause? This is the dispute that has turned around the Greenpeace campaign "I want my child to know the forests", which depicts a naked pregnant woman.
The Uruguayan actress Natalia Oreiro, famous in Latin countries such as soap operas interpreter and environmentalist, has made an appeal for Greenpeace for the protection of forests and has "given" to the cause her belly.
The environmental NGO is not sparing in the use of strong images,but this time the choice – a naked pregnant woman – has been at the same level of previous campaigns?The pose of South American actress is clearly a quotation from the famous picture of a pregnant Demi Moore, then copied by many other celebrities.So there is nothing new.
The body of a pregnant woman, besides being the sublimation of feminine beauty, is certainly highly symbolic as a hope bringer for a prosperous and better future, so the choice seems more than appropriate. But if you look at the picture, what is striking is not the belly, which should be the main character of this campaign, but rather the flirtatious look that makes the testimonial nothing more than an object of sexual desire, a helpless and weak woman. Nothing to do with a proud Mother Nature image that deserves to be respected.
We have almost exhausted the available space questioning about the form rather than the content of the campaign - the protection of forests - and perhaps this is precisely the weak aspect of the campaign. Even among Internet people, who have left comments on the web, the focus is on the beauty of the actress and the more or less abuse of the female nude and the message itself fades into the background.
We remind that this campaign was born inside a precise social and political framework. A government forest bill “Ley de Bosques”, supported by more than 1.5 million Argentinean citizens, was approved by the Argentinean Congress in 2007 to protect native forests. Despite the massive civil society movement and political will, governance is still an issue in the region and deforestation rates keep rising because of logging permits and cattle expansion.
Mrs Oreiro, inspired by the desire for her son to know the fecundity of the forests, lent her weight to the call to action to Governor of Santiago del Estero to halt forest destruction, revoke illegal logging permits and give future generations a chance to discover the wonders of the forests.
We hope that the unborn child, symbol of next generations, will be proud of his mother's environmental engage.
The Uruguayan actress Natalia Oreiro, famous in Latin countries such as soap operas interpreter and environmentalist, has made an appeal for Greenpeace for the protection of forests and has "given" to the cause her belly.
The environmental NGO is not sparing in the use of strong images,but this time the choice – a naked pregnant woman – has been at the same level of previous campaigns?The pose of South American actress is clearly a quotation from the famous picture of a pregnant Demi Moore, then copied by many other celebrities.So there is nothing new.
The body of a pregnant woman, besides being the sublimation of feminine beauty, is certainly highly symbolic as a hope bringer for a prosperous and better future, so the choice seems more than appropriate. But if you look at the picture, what is striking is not the belly, which should be the main character of this campaign, but rather the flirtatious look that makes the testimonial nothing more than an object of sexual desire, a helpless and weak woman. Nothing to do with a proud Mother Nature image that deserves to be respected.
We have almost exhausted the available space questioning about the form rather than the content of the campaign - the protection of forests - and perhaps this is precisely the weak aspect of the campaign. Even among Internet people, who have left comments on the web, the focus is on the beauty of the actress and the more or less abuse of the female nude and the message itself fades into the background.
We remind that this campaign was born inside a precise social and political framework. A government forest bill “Ley de Bosques”, supported by more than 1.5 million Argentinean citizens, was approved by the Argentinean Congress in 2007 to protect native forests. Despite the massive civil society movement and political will, governance is still an issue in the region and deforestation rates keep rising because of logging permits and cattle expansion.
Mrs Oreiro, inspired by the desire for her son to know the fecundity of the forests, lent her weight to the call to action to Governor of Santiago del Estero to halt forest destruction, revoke illegal logging permits and give future generations a chance to discover the wonders of the forests.
We hope that the unborn child, symbol of next generations, will be proud of his mother's environmental engage.
No comments:
Post a Comment