Analysis of Ad English 1020

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he beat his wife, Betty Kavata. Betty was paralyzed and brain-dead, she eventually died five months later. The story got extremely good media coverage. There were images of the woman and the news of how her death started a spark for violence on women. After five years of extensive protesting by men and women, the government passed a family bill criminalizing wife-beating and other forms of abuse. “56% of women in Tanzania and 71% of women in Ethiopia’s rural areas reported beatings or other forms of violence.” (The Guardian Africa) The violence against women goes beyond the beatings, it includes forced marriages, marital rape, sexual harassment, dowry-related violence, intimidation at work and in educational settings, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, forced prostitution, forced abortion and trafficking. These types of torture and abuse cause trauma, death and injuries. Female genital cutting is a common cultural practice in parts of Africa. It causes “bleeding and infection, urinary incontinence, difficulties with childbirth and even death.” (WHO) The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that 130 million girls have undergone the procedure globally and 2 million are at risk each year. Something that was once used as torture towards women is being accepted.

“How sad it is to be a woman!! Nothing on earth is held so cheap.....”. This excerpt is taken from a poem by Fu Xuan called women. As sad as it is, this thought process, this belief, this mentality, is ingrained in the minds of both men and women. It has been accepted for hundreds for years. The definition of Women is “A Wife. A servant or personal assistant.” (Merriam Webster Dictionary) The ad created by Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai shines a light onto women’s mistreatment. If you just take five minutes out of your day you can see how women are treated as a sub-human. Women lose their lives for being a women, women are raped because they can be, women are abused because they “have to be disciplined.” Women endure more in their lifetime then they should. All because no one will look to see how we are affected by the way people treat us. Whenever I do have children, I want my daughter to know that abuse, violence, rape, murder is ALL WRONG. She deserves better and so does every women in our world. We deserve the moon and stars because we gave birth to the world, we gave life to dead, we shine through any obstacle placed in our path. Women are strong and women deserve to be heard. That is what the ad is telling the audience, listen to them, hear what they have to say, understand how they feel. The ad is more than what we see, it’s what those women in the ad see. How would you feel if you were stripped of your identity? How would you feel if your life was so close to ending you didn’t know what to do? And you reached out for help, pleaded for help, begged for your life but was denied because. You. Were. A. Woman?

References

"Female Genital Mutilation." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

Ford, Tamasin. "Domestic Violence Is Biggest Threat to West Africa’s Women, IRC Says." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 May 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

Guinan, Julie. "Guatemala: Gender-based Violence at Epidemic Levels." CNN. Cable News Network, 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

Pidd, Helen. "Why Is India so Bad for Women?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 July 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.