Visual Argument

Visual Argument: Self Analysis

    My visual argument approaches the topic of domestic violence in Afghanistan. The claim for my visual argument is: domestic violence drives many Afghan women to commit suicide by self-immolation, or lighting themselves on fire.  However, women’s shelters, often run by non-governmental organizations, can offer an alternative for battered women.  My presentation is divided into segments that are meant to provoke a series of emotions in the audience.  When viewing these segments chronologically, the audience should progress from feeling pity and horror for what these women have endured to feeling hope that women’s shelters can help them better their situation.

The first picture should provide the audience with some context for the rest of the presentation.  Working within their shared context, the image gives the viewers a place, a culture, and a religion in which to orient themselves.  Also, the image--which should inspire happiness or glee-- sets the audience up for the impending loss of happiness that comes with domestic abuse.  In it we see a row of Afghan women covered in light blue burqas.  The last woman has removed her burqa and is smiling mischievously at the camera.  We get the impression that she is a bold, playful, and happy individual.  The audience is supposed to look past the Afghan woman’s religion and nationality, past her burqa, to see the joyful personality beneath.  

The next two images show Afghan women who have been abused.  The second image shows a woman with signs of abuse on her neck and shoulder.  Sad and broken, this woman’s emotions stand in stark contrast to the emotions of the woman in the first image.  This contrast is meant to provoke a sense of loss, or stolen happiness, as the audience realizes that the second girl could have been just as happy as the first at one time.  The third image also shows an abused woman and is meant to reinforce the emotions of the second.  This woman has more prominent bruises on her face, including a large and colorful black eye.  When viewing this image, the audience might imagine the cruelty of a man who would intentionally deform his wife’s young and beautiful face.  

The next three images show Afghan women suffering from severe third degree burns after attempting suicide by self-immolation.  Based on the initial claim of my presentation, the audience should be able to follow the argument that the domestic violence Afghan women suffer at home can lead them to burn themselves alive.  The fourth image, which shows a woman with severe burns on her chest, is intended to inspire shock and horror.  The next image shows a woman whose burns have deformed her neck. The woman holds what looks like a mirror in front of her face. An audience member will naturally put themselves in this woman’s shoes and imagine gazing at their deformed neck in a mirror.  The last image in this series shows two naked women with severe burns all over their bodies. The woman in the foreground has strips of gauze covering her wounds.  Her thin, gaunt face stares hauntingly into the camera, causing this image to be, at once, frightening, shocking, and saddening.  

The next series of images depict women’s shelters, and they are meant to transition the audience from feelings of shock and sadness to feelings of hope and safety.  The first in this series shows a woman in bed cradling her child.  The woman has an expression of content on her face.  The audience gets the impression that she feels safe.  The next image shows several women sitting around bunk beds.  There is a woman in the middle of the floor, kneeling to pray.  Light beams through the curtains, casting a hopeful glow around the room.  The last image in this series shows a classroom in a women’s shelter.  A woman at the board appears to be teaching math.  But the younger girl in the foreground is not paying attention.  She looks like she is trying to prevent herself from laughing.  The image shows that women’s shelters can provide an education for Afghan women, something that would otherwise be very difficult for them to attain.  Also, the laughing girl imbues the image with a sense of normalcy.  The image of a “child-not-paying-attention-in-class” is easily translatable to a Western audience.  It reminds the audience that, that sense of normalcy-- something we take for granted-- is a precious gift for these women.  The last image shows a woman turning to smile at the camera.  The audience is supposed to connect the previous series of images with this one, leading to the interpretation that Afghan women can find joy and fulfillment when removed from the oppressive grip of abusive husbands.

    My purpose is twofold: 1) I want to inform the audience of the destructive cycle caused by domestic violence against women in Afghanistan and 2) I want to convince the audience that women’s shelters currently provide one of the only safe, legal escapes from domestic violence.  This awareness could lead audience members to support women’s shelters vocally or financially.  I also want the audience to leave the presentation with questions about women’s rights in Afghanistan.  These questions should hopefully prompt them to research the issue, in which they would discover a number of other obstacles that women face, including a lack of education and forced marriages at a young age.  The interpretation that would lead to these actions would be: these women’s lives are so bad that the only escape they see is to kill themselves in one of the most gruesome ways possible.  The audience should imagine themselves in these women’s situations, with no escape from domestic violence.  They should see the logic behind their decisions to kill themselves, and experience a subsequent wave of relief when the presentation reveals that there is another option, and that is women’s shelters.

Photo credits:
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