For my entry this week, I have decided to analyse a postcard distributed by the Action For AIDS Organisation in Singapore. Action For Aids (AfA) is a voluntary community-based organisation, that also acts as a charity. It is also a member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). The AfA usually distributes postcards about HIV testing, safe-sex practices, and general information about sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) at public events, such as fund raisers and on their website at http://www.afa.org.sg/. This postcard was printed about 4-5 years ago, but is currently still being used on their website to promote safe-sex practices.
I was looking through a pile of postcards, when I came across the one featured above and decided to use it for my blog entry analysis, as I felt that I had a lot to write about in terms of perception and human communication. To be honest, I deliberated for quite a while over the postcard, as I was not sure if the content was too provocative or risque’ to be used on my blog. However, the fact that I deliberated over it and even asked my friends for their opinions, convinced me even more that I should use it, as it made me realize that I myself had formed perceptions over it.
It was only after a few seconds, that I realized that there were only men displayed on the postcard. It was only then, when I started to deliberate about using it for my blog. Due to the frequency of the men displayed nude on the postcard, I felt that the AfA was solely targeting a homosexual audience and as a result, committing the error of oversimplification, as it was only addressing one spectrum of society. Plus, by only putting men on the agenda, the perceptual error of omission was also committed, as it gives the impression that women do not suffer from HIV or AIDS. There is also distortion, as it perpetuates an erroneous impression that the majority of HIV/AIDS patients are homosexuals.
The main cause for my deliberation was the schema in my framework, which made me think of the governments’ stance towards homosexuality. This postcard was disseminated in public, and the organisation has certain ties with the government. Thus, to a certain extent, it appears to undercut the governments’ stance, as it acknowledges the homosexual presence in society.
Then, I decided to look at the message printed behind the postcard:
Based on the above caption, the postcard is trying to draw awareness towards the discrimination of HIV-positive people. If that’s the case, then the picture could be interpreted from an entirely different point of view. The “Spread No Evil” message could be referring to discrimination, not HIV/AIDS. The men could have been displayed purely for emphasis and to grab peoples’ attention. The nudity could be reflective of humanity’s vulnerability to this epidemic. Thus, it can be argued that it does not subvert the governments’ stance. As a result, I feel that there is subjectivity of interpretation in relation to the motives of this postcard. I also feel that the ambiguity of this postcard was deliberate, so as to grab the attention of the public.
It is hard for me to disregard my first impression, and thus I still do feel that the message is referring to AIDS, due to the use of the AIDS symbol in the “No” part of the message and the way the postcard is portrayed. Thus, if it is targeted towards a gay audience, it tells us a lot about how society views homosexuals in relation to HIV/AIDS in Singapore. Statistically, the percentage of HIV cases among heterosexuals in 2006 and 2007 constituted to about 65% (statistics from the Ministry of Health website, http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/statistics.aspx?id=246#table1) of all cases in Singapore. In my opinion, the postcard reflects an attribution error.
Furthermore, I can conclude that the postcard is perpetuating a personal construct of gay men, that they are all muscular, fit and thus concerned about their appearance. I can also say that, as much as the postcard has good intentions, it is propagating a stereotypical point of view in regards to gay men. This could lead to people being very judgemental towards muscular men, and also pressurise gay men to feel the need to live up to a certain ideal.
Lastly, I also observed the use of an organisational principle, figure and ground, on the postcard. Although the message is strategically placed in the middle, the picture takes up the whole postcard, and thus exerts a considerable influence on our perception.
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11 comments:
As i've already mentioned ,this is a brilliant entry.Whats even better is that you had so many communication concepts link to it.
On a more subtle note,I share the same sentiments that this postcard is generally bias against men.Is the media implying that AIDS is the "breast cancer" of men?.
Yes it had a nice gesture towards the AIDS family by the message "spread no discrimination". We are all guilty one way or the other of discriminating people, myself included, how many would actually befriend a person with the knowledge that he or she has such a disease?Immediately,negative thoughts and ideas flow through our minds with regards to the condemn;a sad but true fact.
Then i turn around i say, if we are all guilty of discrimination there.Isn't there a hint of discrimination towards men over here?
In my opinion, a media blooper.
Yes ladies?.
I think that indeed, this postcard was targeted at the homosexual community which I feel is not the best way the issue should be brought up. I like the fact that they stand against discrimination and prejudice but like i said, it should be targeted at the entire public. It is unfair that they have singled out a section of the community because the implications of that are distasteful. HIV is a worldwide problem for every human being and it takes a collective effort to deal with and overcome this issue. Many global media companies such as MTV have had campaigns to educate the viewers on the severity of the issue and preventive measures that should be practised. At the end of the day, i think that the intent behind this postcard is good but it could be delieverd a whole lot better.
very detailed analysis.
But I thought that it may be a better idea to print this AIDS message in magazines rather than on postcards? I mean, they are not as popular as they used to be. I used to collect stacks of them, but not anymore.
And i agree with you that the postcard "exerts a considerable influence on our perception"
yijing
With the current AIDS compaign thats going out strong right now, I'd say you picked a right time for it.
I believe for effective communication for the campaign would be to remove the common misconceptions that people have.
Looking into that, this would mirror your previous entry on Perception, with a much larger scale. It would be interesting to see how the campaign works out, and if it follows a path similar to what you have in mind.
I've recently read a true story about how HIV can be spread due to sex within men. This man then went on to infect his wife, and because of this, his children. I find that the message that this postcard sends is extremely clear. 1) The misconception that HIV is only spread between a male and a female. 2) Be responsible. HIV can ruin the lives of many. It's a chain effect. Don't bring harm to those you love and care about.
well..first of all..an excellent entry..it is a total reflectio of how Singaporeans actually think..well..honestly, we have to take into account that after all that "westernization"..we are..after all an asian country..and that our asian values and culture are very much still in ourselves..and from a guy's point of view..this ad is rather bias and definitely discriminating..why must it be guys? why is it that must be the guys that are always fooling around? well..where were the ladies who always wanted equality? In addition, it also give ppl a wrong perception that Aids is only tramistted through unsafe sexual relationship...but how abt the children who are innocent? they were BORNED with this terrible disease..so..pls spare a thought for them..
You have really dig out a really old set of postcards. :)
The postcard you used was from three years back and the publicity direction was very different back then. It was a period where there were mushrooming of gay businesses including gay saunas, where at one point, seven saunas altogether. While the series may have stereotyped how gay men may look phyiscally, it is not very wrong in linking sex with gay men.
In many coming out journey of gay men, sex played a significant part. Simply because, apart from emotionally bonding with another man, sex actually define the start of recognising one's attraction to another man. I am only talking about recognising which may not necessarily translated into acceptance.
To me, the series is an attempt to be upfront about sex. In Singapore, we are so good in pretending that we dun like sex when we are busy buying online adult materials. It works well in a specific audience. For those who have never seen these cards before, the one you display is the less explicit. :)
There are different and subtle approaches to do that but this was one to capture the attention, encourage people to bring it home and keep it until the person need to flip over to look for information on HIV testing. The fact that you kept it with you and not toss it aside shows the campaign was useful.
I think to constantly link AIDS wif homosexuals is so passe. Sure the campaign does make it a point to promote non-discrimination, but I feel the focus shld still be on prevention, whether targeted at heterosexuals or homosexuals. Hyping on discrimination only makes the finger pointing more obvious. Focus on prevention and maybe someday AIDS will truely see a receding trend.
What caught my attention is the back of the card. It's really ironic. It's telling us not to discriminate yet it told us to "treat everyone like they are HIV+" What does this means? Discrimination is bad, but mass discrimination is fine?
I find this really ironic.
But I really like your deductive skills, you really analyzed this completely from all angles.
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