society and culture. This changes the portrayal of the child to one of innocence, whose situation is not by choice but by societal tensions.
The child is seen to be wearing clothing which is clearly too big, this implies one of two things, either the child is not an age appropriate size due to malnutrition, or due to the economic status of the country in which he is living and the financial status of his family, they are unable to afford clothes which fit properly, further providing evidence that he is not from a wealthy family. Furthermore the way the child is holding the weapon is that of a trained adult, as well as the lack of fear in the child's facial expression shows that this is not the first time he is in this situation. The boy is looking directly at the viewer, this could represent his innocence or act as a plead for help.
The fact that the child chosen to represent child soldiers in the artwork is a male highlights a gender issue found in the artwork. It supports the stereotype that all child soldiers are male, when in fact females account for between 10% and …show more content…
Childhood from a puritan standpoint believes that children are born evil and need to be disciplined through adult intervention to become valuable members of society. However I am of the opinion that this artwork can be understood through the tabula rasa discourse, a term developed by John Locke (Allen; Cansinos,2008). The tabula rasa discourse perceives children to be born with a “blank slate”, neither good nor evil, but that children are the result of their direct environments. As children from poor backgrounds or who have limited access to education are most likely to be recruited , it is safe to assume that the boy was either forcibly recruited or volunteered for circumstances that were out of his control
The child is seen to be wearing clothing which is clearly too big, this implies one of two things, either the child is not an age appropriate size due to malnutrition, or due to the economic status of the country in which he is living and the financial status of his family, they are unable to afford clothes which fit properly, further providing evidence that he is not from a wealthy family. Furthermore the way the child is holding the weapon is that of a trained adult, as well as the lack of fear in the child's facial expression shows that this is not the first time he is in this situation. The boy is looking directly at the viewer, this could represent his innocence or act as a plead for help.
The fact that the child chosen to represent child soldiers in the artwork is a male highlights a gender issue found in the artwork. It supports the stereotype that all child soldiers are male, when in fact females account for between 10% and …show more content…
Childhood from a puritan standpoint believes that children are born evil and need to be disciplined through adult intervention to become valuable members of society. However I am of the opinion that this artwork can be understood through the tabula rasa discourse, a term developed by John Locke (Allen; Cansinos,2008). The tabula rasa discourse perceives children to be born with a “blank slate”, neither good nor evil, but that children are the result of their direct environments. As children from poor backgrounds or who have limited access to education are most likely to be recruited , it is safe to assume that the boy was either forcibly recruited or volunteered for circumstances that were out of his control