Poverty Porn
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Poverty porn, also known as pornography of poverty, development porn, famine porn, or stereotype porn, has been defined as "any type of media, be it written, photographed or filmed, which exploits the poor's condition in order to generate the necessary sympathy for selling newspapers, increasing charitable donations, or support for a given cause". It also suggests that the viewer of the exploited protagonists is motivated by gratification of base instincts. It is also a term of criticism applied to films that objectify people in poverty for the sake of entertaining a privileged audience.


Origins

The concept of poverty porn was first introduced in the 1980s, known as the "golden age of charity campaigns". Charity campaigns during this period made use of hard-hitting images such as pictures of malnourished children with flies in their eyes. This quickly became a trend and there were several notable campaigns such as
Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
. Though some of these campaigns were successful in raising money for charity (over $150 million to help combat famine), some observers criticised the approach, claiming it oversimplified
chronic poverty Chronic poverty is a phenomenon whereby an individual or group is in a state of poverty over extended period of time. While determining both the implicit poverty line and the duration needed to be considered long-term is debated, the identification ...
; this apparent sensationalism was dubbed by critics as "poverty porn." In the 1980s the media used what some believed to be inappropriate use of children in poverty. However, towards the end of this era more positive images emerged to tell their stories, although, in recent years it has been noticed that the disturbing images are being highlighted once more. The term "poverty porn" itself was introduced years later. One of the earliest examples was the review of the film ''
Angela's Ashes ''Angela's Ashes: A Memoir'' is a 1996 memoir by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt, with various anecdotes and stories of his childhood. The book details his very early childhood in Brooklyn, New York, US but focuses primarily on his life ...
'' (1999) published in the January 2000 edition of the e-newsletter ''
Need to Know The term "need to know", when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military or espionage), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if one ...
''. In this review, the term was not defined but was used to describe the film's depiction of poverty as a "ponderous vomit-packed poverty porn".


In charity

The practice is controversial, as some believe it to be exploitative, whilst others praise the way it can allow organisations to reach their objectives. It has been common for charity organisations such as
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
and
Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
to portray famine, poverty, and children in order to attract sympathy and increase donations. Although poverty porn can be seen as a tool to generate further donations, many believe it deforms reality as it portrays the image of an impotent society, entirely dependent on other western societies to survive, as well as being overly voyeuristic. It is a common debate to have as to whether it is justifiable or not to portray stereotypes and to use sensationalism in order to generate empathy.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...
, a
Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
writer, notes that "The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." Throughout fundraising campaigns, charities attempt to interview those who they are trying to help, in order to get the word across to the general public. However, it is common for them to encounter ongoing refusal from those in desolated situations to take pictures or to publicly share their traumatic story. This further emphasizes the concept that being in an uneasy, not to say miserable, situation is a shameful one, and poverty porn in media exposes those who do not necessarily have the desire to be exposed. In one case, this "need" for voices to justify this style of fundraising resulted in an organization creating fictional "needy children", and sending out emotional letters, "written by" these nonexistent individuals. CNN exposed a school in South Dakota that raised millions of dollars by using "the worst of poverty porn," "They are raising money in the name of Indians, using the worst of poverty porn of all Indian country to raise money on all our social ills" - Michael Roberts, president of the First Nations Development Institute saying that "a school run by non-Indians is raising a fortune off of racial stereotypes."


In media

Poverty porn is used in media through visually miserable and disturbing images, that aim to trigger some sort of emotion amongst its audience. It is commonly thought however, that to expose one's misery publicly through images, interviews and other means, is an impermissible invasion of privacy. The use of one photo to label an entire country as destitute makes the audience falsely assume that the entire country share the same story. Alli Heller, a Nigerian writer and anthropologist says: "Imagine for a minute that you were chronically incontinent. Now imagine that you didn't have access to adult diapers or sanitary napkins ... Imagine how the acidity of the unremitting flow of urine burned away at your thighs, cracking your skin and leaving you vulnerable to painful infections. Imagine the shame you'd feel – a grown adult incapable of avoiding the small pool of urine you'd leave behind on a friend's chair after a visit ... Why must we highlight the extreme cases when the norm is bad enough?"


In politics

In the West, "poverty porn" also found prominent usage in the political sphere. It is referenced by the left as an expression for deliberately misleading impressions of the lives of the poor in the process of victimizing them while the right deploys the term as part of its indictment of the
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
.


In popular culture

Poverty porn is highly exposed in today's pop culture, as the concept has become pervasive in films and TV shows.


Reality TV

The British television program ''The Hardest Grafter'' illustrates this as it portrays 25 of Britain's "poorest workers," all having the shared ultimate objective of winning £15,000 through the completion of various tasks. In this case, the contestants' poverty attracts a television audience which was, before the show even started, contested as various petitions were made in order to stop what was believed to be a "perverted audience and profit making operation." It is considered to not only be perverted, but also discriminatory as the contestants can only be poor.
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
replied to these accusations by affirming that it would be a "serious social experiment to show just how hard those part of the low-wage economy work" as well as "tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time: why is British productivity low?" A spokesman from the show's production company, Twenty Twenty, stated that: "the show will challenge and shatter all sorts of myths surrounding the low-paid and unemployed sector." Broome, a reality TV show creator, states that it exposes the hardship of some families and their ability to keep on going through values, love and communication. He assures that he would much prefer create these shows rather than those like Jersey Shore which depicts "a group of strangers from New Jersey as they party throughout six seasons."


Associated works

* ''
Hillbilly Elegy ''Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis'' is a bestselling 2016 memoir by future Ohio Senator J. D. Vance about the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and the social and socioeconomic problems of his hometown of Mi ...
'' * ''
Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! ''Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!'' is a British factual documentary series on Channel 5. It follows the work of High Court enforcement officers (previously known as sheriffs) as they execute privately obtained High Court writs across Englan ...
'' * ''
The Scheme ''The Scheme'' is a BBC Scotland BAFTA-award-winning documentary series which follows the lives of six families in the Onthank and Knockinlaw housing schemes in Kilmarnock. The series has been the subject of some media criticism, with the ser ...
''"''The Scheme'': Gritty TV or poverty porn?"
''The Guardian'' TV & Radio Blog, 28 May 2010
"''The Scheme'': A brutal eye-opener or poverty porn?"
''The Scotsman'', 28 May 2010
"Debate over housing estate portrayal on ''The Scheme''"
stv.tv, 19 May 2010
"''The Scheme'', a TV documentary of life on a Kilmarnock estate, has already been dubbed Scotland's Shameless. But what's life really like there?"
''The Scotsman'', 20 May 2010
* ''
Benefits Street ''Benefits Street'' is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4. It was first aired on 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes. The show was filmed by documenting the lives of several residents of James Turner Street, Winson Green, ...
'' * ''
Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...
'' It has been claimed that depiction of violence against poor people is sensationalized as to likely arouse the vile response of enjoying the depicted miseries rather than invoking a sense of empathy from the audience. * '' Famous, Rich and Hungry'' * '' Rich Hill'' * ''
Struggle Street ''Struggle Street'' is an Australian documentary series that first aired on Special Broadcasting Service, SBS One on 6 May 2015. The second series began airing on 28 November 2017. The third series began airing on 9 October 2019. Premise The s ...
'' * ''
The Last Face ''The Last Face'' is a 2016 American drama film directed by Sean Penn and written by Erin Dignam. The film stars Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Jean Reno. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cann ...
'' * '' Donnybrook'' * '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' * ''
Nomadland ''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...
'' * ''
The Briefcase ''The Briefcase'' is an American reality TV program created by Dave Broome that premiered on CBS on May 27, 2015. In each episode, two American families undergoing financial hardship are each given a briefcase containing $101,000, and must deci ...
'' * ''
Tom's Shoes Toms (stylized as TOMS) is a for-profit companybusinessoffashion.coBlake Mycoskie on 10 Years of TomsMAY 6, 2016 based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, an entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas, the company designs and ...
''


See also

*
Charity record A charity record or charity single is a song released by musicians with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. George Harrison's " Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-m ...
, songs produced with the proceeds donated to charity or marginalized groups *
Inspiration porn Inspiration porn is the portrayal of people with disabilities (or other uncommon life circumstances) as being inspirational to able-bodied people (or other common reference group), on the basis of their life circumstances. The term "inspiration ...
, in coverage of people with
disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
*
Slum tourism Slum tourism, poverty tourism, ghetto tourism or trauma tourism is a type of city tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas. Originally focused on the slums and ghettos of London and Manhattan in the 19th century, slum tourism is now pr ...
*
Social pornography Social pornography (Norwegian: ''sosialpornografi'') is a term used in Norway and elsewhere to describe a type of journalism through which persons are exposed in an intimate way, especially in matters or situations of private or tragic nature, as a ...


References

{{reflist, 30em Neologisms Poverty International development Mass media portrayals of the working class