Art is a visual form that is used as an asset in propaganda. The poster, Women Wanted for Evacuation Service is very detailed in getting its message across to the specific audience. The audience for this poster is obviously women. Any viewer is easily aware of the message because of the word choice, ‘women’ which is not clever because it is being direct; however, the idea behind the poster is very clever because it aims towards a women’s emotions. This is a method of persuasion because the artist is using pathos to appeal and convince the audience. Pathos is defined as, creates an emotional response that convinces its audience. The way the poster appeals to emotions is because it relates to saving young children. Children are significant and venerable; hence, why they must always be protected. This poster has multiple subtly meanings for instance, first, in a way it plays with the emotions of women and guilt-trips them into signing up as volunteers because no one else but women can help these children. On the other hand, it shows a sign of patriotism which allows women who sign up to feel proud of themselves because they are doing something good, being good civilians, and contributing to the war from the home front.
This poster requires women to help in the home front. The poster was created during the second world war. It was created by Jack Mathew in the year 1940. The way Mathew articulated his posters was done in a neatly and organized fashion. This allows the viewer a clear sense of what the message is but also shows bias towards gender. The poster is speaking to women and does not include men. I assume men were recruited for other jobs but it should be open to both genders.
The message “Women Wanted for Evacuation Service” is written in black and orange. The color choice is significant because orange stands out and it emphasizes the importance. Orange is an edge kind of color and shows urgency but at the same time not as fierce as the color red. The Civil defense is written in blue which is one of the color that is on the British flag. The poster has illustration of a group of people. Mostly women of all ages, young children, and even pets. The women are helping the civilians one way or another. One of the women is helping a child off the truck, another woman is giving tea and refreshments to the female truck driver. This shows that all women are capable of doing anything and also that there is a list of jobs that need volunteers. This poster emphasizes that it is about women and their work and that being an evacuee will help during the war. This will also recruit other women too want to volunteer. This is important because it is about being a good civilian and helping children, animals, and the country.
This poster was published by the department, The Associated People and organizations are the Women’s Voluntary Services, National Service, Air Raid Precautions(ARP). Why have a poster that is dedicated to evacuation? This poster was created to save the legacy of Great Britain and continue the growth population and to do so children must be moved and kept in a secure place. Let us talk about the two evacuations.
This image is the first wave of child evacuations at 5am in the morning on September 1, 1939. These are school children. The reason behind this evacuation was due to the fear of bombings. The Imperial War Museum website mentions that parents where issued a list detailing what their children should take with them for example, gas mask, night clothes, socks, toothbrush, warm clothes etc. The poster’s main goal was to decrease the fear and have many volunteers help keep the children safe thus, leads to the second wave of evacuation. According to the website this occurred during the summer and autumn of 1940 after German had invaded France in May-June and the beginning of the Blitz in September. Evacuation was voluntary.
The poster also shows the concern the people have for the children. It was to protect millions of children and send them to safety and away from the German bomb threats; but if we change the perspective, the evacuation itself caused a lot of negative effects on the children. According to the website it states that children, once brought back from this long period during the war brought fear, confusion, and separation. I am assuming that women were wanted to be the evacuee because they can show compassion and cheer up those children whom are distressed from being away from their parents. Despite this poster trying to be a positive one it reveals a lot of deeper issues.
Jalter. “The Evacuated Children of the Second World War.” Imperial War Museums, 5sept. 2014, www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-evacuated-children-of-the-second-world-war.