Women Have the Right to Choose.

Research.

For the poster project I have been given the topic of Pro-Choice, which is the stance that women have the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy because of women’s basic human rights to decide what is best for their bodies and personal life. Advocators of pro-choice have been waging a war against pro-life advocators, who believe a fetus, regardless of how underdeveloped it is, has the same rights as any human being and abortion should be illegal. According to Wikipedia, many pro-choice campaigners don’t agree with abortion but support the decision in an effort to reduce the amount of back-alley abortions that cause numerous deaths due to unlicensed practitioners and unsanitary conditions. Pro-choice advocates are supportive of the decision for women’s right to choose because situations arise where having a child is not the best solution. According to AbortionProCon.org, abortions are necessary because of financial situations, women who are victims of rape, failed contraception, unwanted pregnancies, or terminating a pregnancy because of mental or physical disabilities of the fetus. Advocators of pro-choice as well as those who support pro-life are in a constant battle through lobbyist groups, legislative hearings, and even rallies outside of clinics that offer services such as free contraception and pregnancy termination.

Pro-choice is a sociopolitical movement, having roots stemming from Roe vs. Wade in 1973 (link) up through present day activist groups such as the National Abortion Federation and NARAL Pro-choice America (link). The major objective of such activist groups are to achieve greater access to contraceptive methods to reduce unwanted pregnancies in order to bypass the need for abortions in the first place.

I stand on the side of pro-choice and that is the message my poster project will represent. I feel every woman should have the choice to decide what they put their body through and that no piece of legislation should dictate that right. I understand the opposing viewpoint and the value of life even in the smallest of forms, but I believe in human rights and the right to take ownership of your own body above all. I stand with pro-choice activists who demand wider availability of contraceptives and increased funding in sex education classes because educating the public is the first step to reducing the need to terminate a pregnancy. Facilities such as Planned Parenthood offer websites like this one here that offer free education on the various methods of contraception and how to handle emergencies that could help in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Another essential reason that pro-choice supporters work so diligently to continue to keep abortions legal is the thousands of women that have died because of unprofessional, underground abortions. According to Our Bodies Ourselves, 98% of unsafe abortions are practiced in countries where it is outlawed, contributing to rising numbers of maternal mortality. Women have never truly had a voice but this is one issue that should be undebatable, it is their body, therefore it is their choice.

Design Elements to Consider.

The poster is an excellent example of one direction a pro-choice stance could be represented. The mood of the poster is very gloomy, grim, and primitive. The use of the wire fence with the red coloring symbolizes a coat hanger, which once was a common method used to terminate pregnancies, that has a very negative connotation. The coat hanger is a symbol of a woman’s desperation to practice the rights to do what she wants with her body even when no other option is available to her. This poster takes a very serious and borderline unmoral stance on the topic of pro-choice. Using repetition of words, the point comes across that unsafe abortions result in outlawing the right for women to choose. This poster is an example of an extreme viewpoint of pro-choice.

This poster is a representation of how government has torn apart the subject of women have the right to their own bodies, leaving women feeling exposed and without a voice. The contrast of the red text and the white figure of the body embody the harshness and sad reality that women feel when they are left without a say in their own lives. This poster, much like the one above, both depict a helplessness and desperation through the use of symbols and colors, without showing graphics or being as bold as to disgust viewers. The use of red ropes symbolize women being held down by religious beliefs that try to dictate their rights through political lobbying.

 

 

The use of this image would be powerful for a pro-choice poster because the symbol for woman, combined with a fist is essentially a logo promoting women empowerment. The colors are also important in the effectiveness of this image because the two contrasting shades of purple are feminine colors that would attract female eyes if it were on a poster. I feel that using a symbol of women empowerment to portray a message that is based on the rights of women to choose would help relay the information on the poster exponentially.

A Pro-choice Poster Should Be:

Empowering

Dramatic

Voiceless

Demanding

Feminine

Forceful

Edgy

Protecting

Controlled

Submissive

 

Font matters.

Besides the visual images on the poster, the words are the second most important aspect.

Impact

Arial Black

Segoe UI Black

The fonts in the examples above would be good fonts to use for my poster because they stand out and act as a call to action, which is necessary when creating a pro-choice poster.

The theme I want my pro-choice poster to exude is empowerment and strength. I have seen many pro-choice posters in my research that are dark and brooding with a lot of use of the color red and black. Many pro-choice posters often use graphic images to get a point across, I want to explain my message that does not try to guilt people with harsh images, but sense the need to give women a voice for a cause that supports the right to choose. The color palette I am looking to use for my poster is a bright spunky hot pink complimented by softer pinks and ivory tones, to show that women, while being  feminine and classy, can still have the willpower and determination to fight for their rights.