Thursday, September 27, 2007

Post Secret

The post secret I chose is the one with the crying baby that says "My biggest fear is that if I have a daughter, she will inherit my eating disorder."
The author of the card explicitly implies that he or she (probably a she, since the card says 'daughter' rather than 'child') has an eating disorder, and they fear that it will be passed to their child. The implicit claim is that an eating disorder is a bad thing, and that the author hopes that her child will not suffer the same feelings of poor body image towards herself that the author felt (towards her own self).
The author, as previously stated, is probably a woman who at some point in her life had a bad personal body image, and developed an eating disorder to try to improve her self image. The audience is directed towards mothers who themselves have had an eating disorder, as well as young girls who are experiencing the same feelings, because the text only says daughters, not sons.
The visual components of the card work at an emotional level, because it is a picture of a baby crying, which can easily stir feelings. Of course, babies do not have a body image at such a young age, but many mothers see their daughters as their babies, even when they get into their teenage years.

1 comment:

Ross Alberghini said...

you analysis of this post secret is done very well. you talk about your thoughts on what the image means, and i agree that it is a mother bearing a child hoping that her daughter has more self confidence then she does. this is a very emotional piece and you capture the message very well, good job.