Violence, Fetuses, and the Media

So the other day, I saw something pretty interesting on my way to class. I had just gotten out of a test, so I was a little early getting to German. And as I was about to walk into Faner, I saw a large display and people holding signs. Some of the signs were caution signs warning of potentially offensive or disturbing images ahead. Having some extra time and wanting to know what it was, I approached.

What it was was a huge billboard (on ground-level) showing pictures of aborted fetuses. These pictures were pretty grotesque, but I didnt get all grossed out like I do when I see gross stuff on TV. For some reason, real pictures bother me a little less. 0.o
Anyway, the aborted fetus pictures were surrounded by pictures of the holocaust and pictures of black people hanging from trees in the time of slavery in the U.S. There was also a picture of a kid with a bruise and it said "You wouldn't abuse a child after they're born" or something like that.

I'm not sure if this suprises you, but my first reaction was to analyse this display from the view of a media major. Apparently the display was a traveling one and had been there since the day before. So of course when I opened my Daily Egyptian some five minutes later, the Letters to the Editor page was filled with nothing about complaints about the abortion display. And my reaction didnt change after this either. It just expanded.

From my point of view, those who put up the display got exactly what they wanted: attention. The people who make the most noise are the ones who are heard. By putting up this potentially offensive display, they're getting people to talk about abortion rights. I personally think that for them, this was a very good tactic...although I understand why the people who had class in the building right next to it were upset. They couldnt STOP looking at it. I myself wasnt all that disturbed. I was actually impressed that the group (a group trying to become an RSO - Registered Student Organization) was even allowed to put up the display. I was impressed by their choice of media to get their point across.

What I did have a problem with was the people who wrote into the DE about it. One girl had a very poorly-written letter that was hard to read and full of sarcasm. Another criticized the display as being religious. I dont recall the display as being religiously-run at all. I think it was just run by people who thought babies should live. However, one point someone made was that by SIUC administrators allowing this display, they were showing some sort of "double standard." It's really more like they were being stereotypical Americans and showing favoritism.
You see, before school started, a student had publically shown a display about "Dangerous women" or something like that. It was a photography exhibit and a copy of it had been outside of the campus Museum. It featured a series of women of all different shapes and sizes and widths and colors and races, etc. One had a crown on, another had a bunch of piercings, some of them were in scandalous clothing, scandalous positions, or just looked odd. There were preppies and rockers, and queens, and female rappers, etc again. Anyway, the problem people had with this exhibit was that one of the girls was mooning the camera. Once students started coming back to school, parents saw the picture and complained. The thing is, this girl's butt wasnt even prominent in the picture. It was off to the right of the middle. Eventually what happened was that the artist was forced to censor the picture. The copy on the Museum was censored with black. The copy I saw in the Comm building was pixelated.

The point is, a large and disturbing abortion display was allowed on campus, while a picture featuring a nude butt had to be censored. Maybe this was because the abortion display was only on campus for two days, whereas the "women" picture was on display for at least a month. Either way, neither of the displays really bothered me much. So how is this all a stereotypical American thing to do? Well, Americans seem much more sensitive to sexual content than to gory content. In Europe, this is the other way around. Sex is more likely to be seen on TV than violence in that part of the world. (I like this take because at least in the animal world, sex is more natural and more common than violence.) So this may be another reason administration was ok with this display. Subconsious patriotism. Yuck.

Like I said, my first reaction wasn't about the morals of abortion. It was about advertising and media. It wasnt until about an hour later that I even thought about what I think about abortion. But just for the record, here's what I think: My stances on most issues are pretty liberal. However, when it comes to abortion, this is the one more conservative opinion that I have. However, my reasoning is liberal...
I disagree with abortion. However, I dont think that it should be illeagal. I just think people shouldnt do it. (Abortions are bad, mm'kay?) I think that if someone's going to screw up and get pregnant (and it's their fault), then they should at least take more responsibility and at least have the kid and put it up for adoption. Just because you're at a point where you dont want kids isnt really a good enough reason for abortion. And nothing bothers me like those people who use abortion like birth control and just keep having them to try to justify their being a slut-bucket.
Now, in the case of rape, I can more likely understand an abortion. However, I would still urge these people to go for the adoption route.
I dont think it should be completely illeagal, though. What about those woment who just wouldnt be able to survive pregnancy? You know there's got to be some tiny little person out there or some girl with medical problems who wouldnt be able to have a kid without killing herself first. In these cases, maybe the abortion thing isnt so terrible. If it's not your fault, then it's not so bad. Also, it shouldnt be illeagal because I dont think the government should have a say in what people do to their bodies. I know I wouldnt want my uterus controlled by the government. That's just a little too disturbing. >.<

Ok. Enough of this. I've made this blog super-long enough. I hope I've at least left you with some insight and some stuff to think about.