By Jenna Barbone
The mysterious black and blue/gold and white dress has been turned into a symbol for a touchy subject. At the beginning of March, a picture of a dress went viral on the Internet, and got people talking, caused lots of commotion, and incited debate over the dress’ true coloring. But this seemingly meaningless argument has been turned into a metaphor about domestic violence.
The Salvation Army has taken a more serious spin on the dress by creating a campaign regarding domestic violence expressing how women cover up their “black and blue” bruises with “gold and white.” The picture states, “why is it so hard to see black and blue?” followed by “One in six women are victims of abuse. That’s no illusion.” The picture of the campaign consists of a young girl lying on her side in a gold and yellow dress with bruises covering her face and body. The message illustrated is that most women who are victims of abuse cover it up and don’t seek help.
Carin Holmes, public-relations secretary for the Salvation Army, shared her thoughts on domestic violence over the phone with journalist Megan O’Neil for philanthropy.com, “I think it is something that happens in more places and households than what we would like to think.”
Holmes was asked if she thought the ad would be risky. She responded by saying, “I didn’t think it was risky at all. Domestic violence is very real in South Africa. It is a topic we address on a regular basis. When I saw the ad, I just realized it was brilliant and was quite happy to put the shield on it.” The ad has received lots of positive feedback. The campaign has been spread throughout 200 news organizations and has received responses from victims sharing their support for the new campaign. Major Roger Glick, the area commander of the Salvation Army in Little Rock stated, “For the Salvation Army in South Africa to grab a hold of that incredible Internet sensation and turn it around to deal with a cause that’s so tragic, I think is absolutely genius.”
Although many support this new campaign, some are opposed to it. According to Natalie Collins, a gender justice specialist and writer for christiantoday.com, the campaign is not shown in such a positive light. Collins feels the campaign is giving off the message “abuse is a choice that stupid women make.” She also states that not all abuse is physical as depicted in the photo of the woman covered in bruises. She explains that there are different forms of abuse that can even be much more detrimental. Collins is also concerned about the offender not present in the image. She believes the campaign should prevent men from abusing women rather than stopping women from allowing abuse.
Overall, the new movement has drawn more attention to a topic that may not lead to a very popular discussion, but has brought awareness to domestic violence victims, the abuse that they go through, and the hesitation that some have to seek help. People are stressing out over a silly color debate when there are more important issues to be worrying about in society like abuse.