“Let’s not let reality spoil good news.” This statement, which on occasion is heard in any newsroom in a mocking tone, now governs the designs of some ministries, which have decided to spend our money on campaigns to raise awareness that all women can enjoy the summer despite having a body “not normative”. It is a commitment to end discrimination, discriminating. Because if you are obese, have breast cancer scars or leave hair in your armpits, you are not “normal” according to the poster commissioned by the Women’s Institute that has caused so much commotion in recent days.
Beyond the false news about whether the campaign had cost 102,000 euros, the reality is that the design of a poster was awarded by hand to an illustrator from Barcelona for almost 5,000 euros. And she decided to steal from the Internet photos of real women who, in her understanding, did not meet the canons of which she is a standard person. She also stole the typeface used. And the most serious thing, some of the images used were modified to improve the model.
This is the case of a young woman, with a prosthetic leg, to which this designer added the missing limb and to whom she also put hair in her armpits. Not shaving is fine, if you’re missing a limb maybe not so much anymore… In addition, a lady who appears topless and showing the scar of an amputated breast has yet to be located. I bet what they want that she doesn’t know that she is the protagonist of a ministerial campaign in Spain either… and if you push me, that her scar will also be an effect of gender Photoshop.
The nonsense could not be greater. First, for granting a ministerial communication campaign by hand. Second, for not verifying that the author of the same has complied with the minimum requirements of intellectual property. And the most significant thing, because the campaign seeks to retouch reality. “Summer is also ours”, says the slogan of it. And I wonder: when has it ceased to be?
The survival of some invented public offices depends on creating problems where there are none. To invent them, go. And the existence of this campaign can only indicate two things: either that those responsible for the Women’s Institute have not set foot on a beach or a public pool for a long time… or what is worse: they seek to point the finger at certain groups in order to victimize them and set themselves up as their saviors (saviors in this case).
It consists of making the “non-normative” the norm and turning it into a social problem that does not always exist; collectivize individuals, emphasize their minority character and instill fear before the rest of society; victimize to generate dependence on the group that emphasizes how different you are and how threatened you are for supposedly being different from the majority. It is a Machiavellian game of social control that we see daily by populism.
Instill fear for being different. Emphasize and influence that difference by disguising it as a positive and inclusive message… Altering reality so that it seems that the beaches are full of women with perfect bodies who despise those who are not like them. Because one thing is to convey that respect for others is the basis of our society and another to turn “normative” into the enemy.
But the reality is that pools, rivers and swamps are full of overweight women (and men), with prostheses, with scars and with hair all over their bodies. And that each one has learned to love and accept themselves throughout life without the need for a tortuous campaign to point the finger at us to tell us how bad we are compared to the rest. But that does not interest some ministries, lest reality spoil a good publicity campaign.
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