A recent photo-gone-viral (and the comments it generated) shows we’ve got a long way to go when it comes to understanding slavery and the needs of children.
—
The photo above was meant to show the stark contrast between “lazy American children” and “hard-working children in developing countries.” Pitting two countries side-by-side in a generalized display like this is bound to cause some drama, and this comparison does just that. But it fails at proving the point it set out to prove because it is undermined by a total lack of cultural understanding on a variety of levels.
In the United States, the nature of slavery is steeped in “us as user of slaves.” As such, we rarely think of ourselves as being enslaved. And yet what this American child represents is not so much “extreme laziness” on his part as it is a form of slavery he’s been guided into: an excessive dependence on or devotion to something.
In Thailand, a country I lived in for nearly three years, slavery isn’t so well hidden. They traffic in workers from Myanmar to work as slaves in shrimp factories, and the country’s sex trafficking record is abysmal. Slavery is ripe there, too, and this includes the many children who are forced to compete in their brutal national sport: muay Thai kickboxing.
It’s the extremes of this photo that irk me. A child likely over 50% body fat is compared to children at under 4% as though the latter is somehow the pinnacle. In many ways it’s uber-wealth vs. uber-poverty. Neither is the answer for the other.
Many comments busted on each country in deeply prejudiced ways. Others sought to layer humor into the mix:
While others tried to add a sprinkle of depth:
But one was able to cut at a far deeper truth:
***
Like The Good Men Project on Facebook
–Photo: Craziest Sports Fights/Facebook
Pretty sure he does that quite often.
Here is a thought, instead of being a whiny lib and defending the land monsters we got walking around here, give this kid a glass of fucking water instead of a 64 ounce soda everyday.
The top one is straight-up fat shaming. Here’s what kids who are fat, overweight, or just bigger than other kids in their class don’t need, regardless of what point you’re trying to make: More people judging their lifestyles. If it were a slender kid in this same situation, you’d think, “Ah yes, lazy Sunday afternoon.” Instead, this turns into “This isn’t a good lifestyle!” Well, of course it isn’t a good lifestyle if it’s all he does. But the fact is, just looking at a pic of a kid tells you nothing about this kid. I’m glad you’re calling this… Read more »