The organization I focused on is Barbells for
Boobs. They are an organization that raises funds and awareness for early
detection of breast cancer. They are also very focused on health and wellness
and they heavily incorporate that into their into their movement.
Their website is very vibrant from the moment
you land on the first page. They use bright colors and most of their photos are
of people smiling. In the description of their organization they describe it as
“loud” and “disruptive”. The website is very much focused on the stories. On
almost every page they incorporate a story of a breast cancer survivor. On the
landing page they include the story of a woman named Nicole. There is a caption
which includes when she was diagnosed with breast cancer but the rest is a
quote from her discussing how Barbells for Boobs helped her. This is paired
with a photo of her where she is wearing a shirt of that has a woman
weightlifting. They are using her own voice and showing her is a position of
strength. Most of the quotes on the website are associated with the
organization.
Also every year they go on something called
a Pink Bra Tour. During the tour, they
travel across the country anc connecting their organization with Crossfit gyms
across the country. The Crossfit gyms hold events with raffles, workout
activities, competitions etc. They then take the Pink Bra Tour and make it an
integral part of their social media presence particularly Instagram. Each post
starts with an introduction but is primarily a quote of the subject’s journey surviving breast cancer. Similarly to
their website, all of the photos show the women working out and in position of
strength. However, unlike their website, their social media primarily focuses
on personal stories not particularly connected to the organization.
On both their social media and their website
the subjects are casts as heroes. In the photos they are shown in a position of
strength usually working out and smiling. I think showing them in such a strong
light energizes the person reading the information. They are not sad stories
there are a lot of stories of people that overcame and the viewer gets the urge
to support them because you want to help more people have happy stories. For
that reason, I would say they use the liberty/oppression
values that Matthews mentions. This value focuses on social intolerance toward
bullies and our positive desire for physical and psychological freedom. In this
situation cancer is the bully that is bringing these women down or oppresing them
in a sense. Seeing them in positions of strength connects with our desire for
physical freedom from an oppressive situation. The viewer wants to help more
women being beat down from breast cancer overcome.
In general they integrate the stories really well.
On their website the personal stories are usually connected to the
organization. They are used to highlight the work that they do and get people
to donate. On the social media the stories are used to motivate their base.
They don’t use the stories to educate on what the organization does as much as
they do on their website. Instead it is used to energize people and reminds
them the importance of strength and health in the breast cancer battle.
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