Bryan's Cultural Analysis

Cultural Analysis


Different cultures have many varying views on what to do if women get pregnant. Some cultures feel that no matter what the situation, that a woman should go ahead and give birth. Their reasons may be based on religion, how they were raised, or just their morals. There are other cultures that feel that an abortion should be performed and their reasons may be based off of how they got pregnant or just the fact that they do not want a child. When looking at the picture above, the culture in perspective are the western women. Throughout this essay I will be analyzing how this picture connects to western people and how the picture makes the argument that abortions are good thing to them. I will also be telling the reason why this picture was created during the time that it was created.


When taking a closer look at the picture above, provided by cartoonstock.com, we can see that the picture’s color is in black and white. On the contrary the reasons for getting an abortion are not so black and white. There could be rape, incest or her getting pregnant could just be a mistake. This cartoon is definitely encouraging women to take the pill form of an abortion, rather than the medical procedure. It is also stating that abortions are alright, according to western people. You can tell because the woman on the left is smiling very confidently, while the one on the right has the interested look on her face, as if she just made a new discovery. The woman on the right is getting re-assurance and being told not to worry about getting pregnant because she can just get an abortion. The pill is quick and easy and has no need for surgery preparation and anesthesia. The main argument being made is that women should not have a child if they do not want to. Note the large print above the picture: “It’s the pill you have when you haven’t had your pill.” This picture is essentially announcing to all women that if they forgot to take their birth control pill and become pregnant, simply take the abortion pill. If a woman is taking birth control, this means that she does not wish to have a child in the first place. So if this woman gets pregnant because she “hasn’t had her pill,” then it makes sense for her to get an abortion.



So the picture is saying if a woman of western culture takes birth control and forgets a pill, then she should take the abortion pill. If someone looked at this picture during the current times they would agree with what the picture is telling white women to do. The economy is on a downhill slope, gas prices are rising, and money is becoming scarce. A person may feel that those factors are a good enough reasons to not have a child because if one is born into a family now, that could lead them to poverty. This means that the child will not have health care and will most likely get sick and eventually die. If someone looked at this picture 30 years ago, they may disagree with this because the economy was doing considerably better than it is now. So if a woman were to have a child 30 years ago, she should have money to support it. So this picture was deliberately created in 2007 because this it was a time of war in Iraq and lots of money was getting allocated toward supporting soldiers



In conclusion the picture connects to women of western decent who have taken birth control and have forgotten a pill. It is a part of western culture to have their women take the pill form of an abortion rather than the surgical procedure because of safety precautions. The picture was created in 2007 because it was a time of war times and money was short. So it encouraged western women to get abortions during times of war.


Works Cited
I. Cartoonstock, 2007.Web. 14 April 2010