Last week, the presentation of against abortion has definitely caused a scene in front of Student Union in our lovely campus here. When I first walk passed the presentation, I did not pay much attention, until after awhile everyone start posting status about the presentation. Well, to be precisely, they asked them to leave. Even one of our Media study department instructor got arrested in front of the presentation for complaining the image they used.
After that, there are many students gathered around and held those signs to do a protest in the following days. There are two questions raised in this incident. First of all, it goes back to the image they show, and it relate to the previous topic of the pain of others. After the thing goes serious, I went back to that presentation and take a look at the image. I should examine them, but they are just too horrible to look at.
The organization came to the campus, they meant to explain how wrong abortion is. However, they came with these almost offensive and aggressive images of racist, genocide, rape, and other horrible issue just to compare with abortion, and that “bloody baby in the hand” image is just too much for us as viewer. To me what they did is not only unnecessary, but also dehumanize the viewer in order to try to make a point.
I think it is pathetic that they think they need to provide this crucial image to tell us that abortion is wrong, when I think normal human being should know that abortion is an unnatural to do. They think that people like it, those images are the only thing that can attract our attention to focus on this issue. That is offensive, and it is dehumanize us as human being. They even put a “Nazi” symbol on one of the genocide image. For what? I totally understand why everyone is angry about it, and why that instructor can’t just let it go and have to argue right in front of that presentation.
One more thing is the student who goes for protest. I think over half of them are going for fun, but not actually for the way the organization present the issue of abortion. They create all that ridiculous sign and gather in front of SU, and well, most of them are playing, laughing. I mean serious? Do you guys need to join every “show” that happened? Maybe the organization is right, that viewer like us is dehumanizing gradually. When we saw the issue of people making mistake, we are not focus on the mistake, or the mistake that influence us, but some of us maybe focus on what they can use to get what they want from this incident. Somehow, that is offensive to me too. To the organization and to the people go for protest with weird sign, I just have one question, “Is that necessary?”