Standing up for peace is noble, correct?
Well not according to AOL.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkui Karman had their social recognition equally divided as they were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The three women were awarded for their use of nonviolent resistance while fighting for the safety of women. Their peace - building efforts were also recognized.
Sirleafk, Gbowee, and Karman represent ethnic diversity and gender homogeneity. Using sembiotics (the process of interpretation) we will explore the signifiers (images, sounds, or words) AOL used the day the three women won the award.
After opening AOL’s homepage the viewer is greeted with 13 news headlines. Before the viewer gets to the Nobel Prize winners they first see:
- 9 Caucasian people
- A dog
- A rainbow
- A stethoscope
Then finally, on page 12 of 13 headlines there is mention of the marvelous women.
Shockingly an hour later the winners were bumped from their 12th spot and completely removed from AOL’s main news headlines. They were replaced with a story about the cartoon, The Simpsons.
Ethnic and gender disrespect often acts as a subtle, steady, sniper. This time AOL was caught holding this social weapon.
