50% Clean 50% Dirty

Although this poster’s message about stopping the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is clear and convincing, the blatant sexism that the poster shows in getting this message across is completely tasteless and actually serves to undermine the ultimate goal of completely eradicating venereal diseases.  The phrase printed at a diagonal between the typical 1950s woman and the soldier, businessman, and sailor which immediately catches the eye completely condemns all women as the sole source of sexually transmitted diseases, and the use of the soldier, businessman, and sailor serves to elevate men above women as superior and more honorable, while the mention of World War II builds a sense of patriotism and duty that is supposed to convince men to avoid women who might have STDs. Although this may seem an effective way to reach men in the armed forces, and may actually reach its goal of getting more men to be careful about their sexual partners, it actually completely undermines the larger goal of eradicating venereal diseases. The creator of this poster seemed to completely forget that the women who have STDs, almost every woman according to the poster, had to have gotten it from a man in the first place. By not addressing the men in regards to their own bodies he is actually doing them a disservice. How can the spread of STDs be stopped if men are not held accountable for their 50% of the equation?