Rhetorical Analysis of PSA Posters
In
this rhetorical analysis I will be examining the deliberate choices made in the
creation of the Justbeyou campaign PSA posters. The choice to create and
promote the campaign through the use of posters targeting adolescents was made
for the main reason that these posters could be hung up on middle school and
high school walls where the targeted audience can see them as they walk through
their school’s halls. I chose this genre for my public argument because I felt
it was the most effective way to reach out to a large population of adolescents
at one time. The posters can be physically printed out and put up in schools or
digitally uploaded to social media sites where these adolescents are spending a
vast majority of their time.
Though each poster is expressing information crucial to an adolescent developing a healthy sense of sexuality and acceptance of his or her body, there may be some resistance and disapproval of the types of pictures and quotes used in the PSA posters. Because these posters are intended for school use, school administration boards may not be comfortable with clear discussions about sex and body image covering their school walls. Some adolescents may not feel comfortable about seeing such arguments made against the habits and behaviors they are being accused of exhibiting. These posters may meet parental disapproval as well, but these adolescents need to be aware of the kind of influence the media has wrapping around their minds. All four posters address certain aspects of my argument that the inundation with social media and the idolization of certain social figures has a potentially detrimental effect on an adolescent’s sense of self, especially in the areas of sexual expression and body dissatisfaction.
The Emma Watson Poster: Because the media tends to focus on celebrities who engage in negative behaviors and reinforce unhealthy messages to adolescents, I chose to use the influence of a celebrity in a positive way using Emma Watson as the background image. Emma Watson is a beautifully grounded, respected actress who has given sound advice to the female adolescents of today. She is also a major admiration for young adolescent boys with her natural, captivating beauty. I chose her specifically because she appeals to both genders. The colors chosen for the poster were meant to emphasize the soft, kind, and sweet nature of Emma—all the things that make her incredibly beautiful. I chose a more feminine font to draw adolescent girls into the message because I felt like the image of Emma Watson herself was enough to draw adolescent boys in to read the message. The quote chosen for this poster directly speaks to adolescent sexual expression and proposes a healthier way for adolescents to explore that part of themselves. For girls, Emma’s words allow them to realize that showing ample amounts of skin isn’t necessary to be “sexy.” For boys, her words allow these boys to see their female peers in a new light in which they shouldn’t press these females to show more skin for their benefit. It is not necessary. It was my hope that a powerful statement such as the one given coming from a well-known celebrity would appeal to an adolescent’s mindset more so than a statistic about teen pregnancies or unwanted sexual intercourse.
The Sexual Expression Poster: Adolescents are naturally curious beings, even more so when it comes to their developing sense of sexuality. These adolescents are so eager to learn all they can about sexuality that they sometimes pick up behaviors from the media that aren’t always healthy or safe. This poster capitalizes on this fact. The image chosen for the poster needed to be appropriate but clear in which message was trying to be communicated. Though the male’s shirt is off in the image, I felt that the picture was clean enough to be posted in middle schools and high schools. I wanted the message to be clear without being overtly sexual. When exploring their sexuality, adolescents need to think before they act and not just imitate behaviors they see on TV or over the internet. There are consequences to engaging in risky sexual behavior. These consequences are nonexistent in the media. This poster demonstrates that fact by stating it outright. The use of the color yellow and the bold, masculine font were chosen in an effort to catch an adolescent’s attention and give the message more power.
The Female Body Dissatisfaction Poster: The poster demonstrating the tendency women have to severely hate their bodies is perhaps the most controversial poster of the campaign. The statistics displayed on the poster illustrate just how common it is for adolescent females to be unhappy with their bodies because they don’t fit in with society’s definition of beautiful, a definition that consists of being stick thin. While there is nothing controversial or astounding about the message of the poster, there is controversy over the image behind the message. Most school administrators are not okay with images of half-naked women floating around their school’s halls. That is completely understandable which is why I chose to blur the image and chose a bold, vibrant red color for the words. The vibrancy of the red and the blurring of the image was done to decrease the unintended sexual implications of the image and emphasize the seriousness of the message. Body dissatisfaction is a major problem for women of all ages. It is a problem for women of all sizes as well which is what I hoped to portray with the image—even the skinniest of women still struggle with loving and accepting their bodies. This poster was created to let adolescent females know that they are not alone, a majority of their peers feel the same exact way, but that skinny does not have to mean beautiful. Every woman is beautiful in her own way.
The Male Body Dissatisfaction Poster: Body dissatisfaction is not a gender specific struggle. All adolescents go through a period in their lives where they can’t stand to look at themselves in the mirror. Body dissatisfaction is just as prominent in males as it is in females. The Justbeyou Campaign’s main concern is the health and well-being of all adolescents, not just females. A poster needed to be created in order to appeal to and include the male gender. The idea of being tall, thin, and tanned is not the societal, cultural message being taught to boys. Instead, boys are taught that in order to fit in with their peers, in order to be considered a “man,” a boy needs to build up extreme amounts of muscle. For boys, to earn the title of “gym rat” is a prestigious award. Adolescent boys under massive amounts of pressure may even result to steroid use and unnecessary, excessive amounts of exercise to conform to society’s opinion on masculinity. The poster’s simple message that muscles do not automatically make a boy a man was used in an effort to encourage adolescent boys to just be themselves and to give their bodies time to develop naturally instead of forcing the development to happen prematurely.
Every day the media plasters warped versions of these messages over the eyes of adolescents everywhere. Whether we like it or not, the media’s influence over adolescent behavior is a very real force. For adolescents who are just trying to figure out their place in this world, this powerful influence can be extremely dangerous. The Justbeyou Campaign designed these posters to take back the power of influence and turn it into something positive. While the campaign is currently reaching out to adolescents through public service announcements only, the messages within the campaign can be delivered through other genres as well. The Campaign’s messages can spread to more adolescents through the use of commercials or school seminars. Parents, teachers, and authority figures can help by actively showing their adolescents what the Justbeyou Campaign has to offer. All these struggling adolescents need is a helping hand, we only need to let them know that there are resources out there intentionally designed to benefit them.
Though each poster is expressing information crucial to an adolescent developing a healthy sense of sexuality and acceptance of his or her body, there may be some resistance and disapproval of the types of pictures and quotes used in the PSA posters. Because these posters are intended for school use, school administration boards may not be comfortable with clear discussions about sex and body image covering their school walls. Some adolescents may not feel comfortable about seeing such arguments made against the habits and behaviors they are being accused of exhibiting. These posters may meet parental disapproval as well, but these adolescents need to be aware of the kind of influence the media has wrapping around their minds. All four posters address certain aspects of my argument that the inundation with social media and the idolization of certain social figures has a potentially detrimental effect on an adolescent’s sense of self, especially in the areas of sexual expression and body dissatisfaction.
The Emma Watson Poster: Because the media tends to focus on celebrities who engage in negative behaviors and reinforce unhealthy messages to adolescents, I chose to use the influence of a celebrity in a positive way using Emma Watson as the background image. Emma Watson is a beautifully grounded, respected actress who has given sound advice to the female adolescents of today. She is also a major admiration for young adolescent boys with her natural, captivating beauty. I chose her specifically because she appeals to both genders. The colors chosen for the poster were meant to emphasize the soft, kind, and sweet nature of Emma—all the things that make her incredibly beautiful. I chose a more feminine font to draw adolescent girls into the message because I felt like the image of Emma Watson herself was enough to draw adolescent boys in to read the message. The quote chosen for this poster directly speaks to adolescent sexual expression and proposes a healthier way for adolescents to explore that part of themselves. For girls, Emma’s words allow them to realize that showing ample amounts of skin isn’t necessary to be “sexy.” For boys, her words allow these boys to see their female peers in a new light in which they shouldn’t press these females to show more skin for their benefit. It is not necessary. It was my hope that a powerful statement such as the one given coming from a well-known celebrity would appeal to an adolescent’s mindset more so than a statistic about teen pregnancies or unwanted sexual intercourse.
The Sexual Expression Poster: Adolescents are naturally curious beings, even more so when it comes to their developing sense of sexuality. These adolescents are so eager to learn all they can about sexuality that they sometimes pick up behaviors from the media that aren’t always healthy or safe. This poster capitalizes on this fact. The image chosen for the poster needed to be appropriate but clear in which message was trying to be communicated. Though the male’s shirt is off in the image, I felt that the picture was clean enough to be posted in middle schools and high schools. I wanted the message to be clear without being overtly sexual. When exploring their sexuality, adolescents need to think before they act and not just imitate behaviors they see on TV or over the internet. There are consequences to engaging in risky sexual behavior. These consequences are nonexistent in the media. This poster demonstrates that fact by stating it outright. The use of the color yellow and the bold, masculine font were chosen in an effort to catch an adolescent’s attention and give the message more power.
The Female Body Dissatisfaction Poster: The poster demonstrating the tendency women have to severely hate their bodies is perhaps the most controversial poster of the campaign. The statistics displayed on the poster illustrate just how common it is for adolescent females to be unhappy with their bodies because they don’t fit in with society’s definition of beautiful, a definition that consists of being stick thin. While there is nothing controversial or astounding about the message of the poster, there is controversy over the image behind the message. Most school administrators are not okay with images of half-naked women floating around their school’s halls. That is completely understandable which is why I chose to blur the image and chose a bold, vibrant red color for the words. The vibrancy of the red and the blurring of the image was done to decrease the unintended sexual implications of the image and emphasize the seriousness of the message. Body dissatisfaction is a major problem for women of all ages. It is a problem for women of all sizes as well which is what I hoped to portray with the image—even the skinniest of women still struggle with loving and accepting their bodies. This poster was created to let adolescent females know that they are not alone, a majority of their peers feel the same exact way, but that skinny does not have to mean beautiful. Every woman is beautiful in her own way.
The Male Body Dissatisfaction Poster: Body dissatisfaction is not a gender specific struggle. All adolescents go through a period in their lives where they can’t stand to look at themselves in the mirror. Body dissatisfaction is just as prominent in males as it is in females. The Justbeyou Campaign’s main concern is the health and well-being of all adolescents, not just females. A poster needed to be created in order to appeal to and include the male gender. The idea of being tall, thin, and tanned is not the societal, cultural message being taught to boys. Instead, boys are taught that in order to fit in with their peers, in order to be considered a “man,” a boy needs to build up extreme amounts of muscle. For boys, to earn the title of “gym rat” is a prestigious award. Adolescent boys under massive amounts of pressure may even result to steroid use and unnecessary, excessive amounts of exercise to conform to society’s opinion on masculinity. The poster’s simple message that muscles do not automatically make a boy a man was used in an effort to encourage adolescent boys to just be themselves and to give their bodies time to develop naturally instead of forcing the development to happen prematurely.
Every day the media plasters warped versions of these messages over the eyes of adolescents everywhere. Whether we like it or not, the media’s influence over adolescent behavior is a very real force. For adolescents who are just trying to figure out their place in this world, this powerful influence can be extremely dangerous. The Justbeyou Campaign designed these posters to take back the power of influence and turn it into something positive. While the campaign is currently reaching out to adolescents through public service announcements only, the messages within the campaign can be delivered through other genres as well. The Campaign’s messages can spread to more adolescents through the use of commercials or school seminars. Parents, teachers, and authority figures can help by actively showing their adolescents what the Justbeyou Campaign has to offer. All these struggling adolescents need is a helping hand, we only need to let them know that there are resources out there intentionally designed to benefit them.