TOW #5 "100 Women: What chance does a young girl have?" Visual

This was a video made by BBC for it's "100 Woman Season", a program running for the month of October that explores the reality of life for women across the world in the twenty-first century. The video points out ways that life has improved for women and how equality has increased, and it also calls attention to the injustice and inequality that still exists. It uses bold text and simple animation to communicate information. The video begins by reminding the audience that there are 3.5 billion women on earth: half of the world. From there it represents the woman and the journey she takes in today's society with a recurring simple red figure. Despite the differences in women and their situations across countries and cultures, we are united in our triumphs and our challenges. To communicate these triumphs and challenges, the video presents statistics, accompanied by animation of graphs, maps, and other figures. The animation is simple, but makes a statement, effectively accentuating the statistics. These statistics appeal to both the ethos and pathos of an audience. They certainly build up the credibility of the video. For example, the video cites statistics from UNICEF, UNESCO, World Health Organization, and other such respected and credible organizations. The statistics show both improvements and injustices, such as the increasing rate of girls attending primary school, the high numbers of teenage mothers, the rate of sex trafficking and abuse of women, the lower wages of women than men, and the increased rate of women's presence in government. The statistics appeal to the pathos of the audience because they plainly show the dramatic injustice that still exists in our world. However, they also communicates hope because of the achievements that have been made and the changes we can continue to make in the future. Finally, slightly dramatic background music and subtle sound affects help illustrate the statistics and give the video a polished feel. This builds up the credibility of the video because it looks professional, as well as helping to illicit an emotional reaction in the viewer through music and sounds that demonstrate the statistics. Though I think the video probably appeals more to women, I think it is also designed to bring attention of these issues to male viewers. This video definitely achieves it's purpose, to shed light on both the progress that has been made as well as the injustice that still exists in the lives of women.

Here is a link to the video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24402849