A billboard put up by the Sanilac County Health Department of Michigan has sparked widespread outrage for its sexist and degrading message.
The billboard advertisement portrays a distraught pregnant woman covering her face on the left, juxtaposed with a smiling, confident young woman dressed in a graduation cap and gown on the right. The copy accompanying the contrasting images simply reads “You can choose…this or this…” with the underlying text stating “Take Control of Your Future.”
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The ad clearly sends a dangerous, offensive, and misleading message to impressionable young women everywhere. It seems to clearly imply that one can not navigate motherhood while simultaneously progressing in life, education, or career — an either-or fallacy that couldn’t be more untrue.
Unsurprisingly, the billboard quickly received backlash from pro-lifers unsettled by its message. Women and organizations alike voiced their concerns across social media.
“Is it just us, or does it seem like they’re telling women that we have to choose between being mothers or being successful?!” Protect Life Michigan wrote on the organization’s Facebook page. The page further encouraged women to share graduation pictures with their kids so they can compile a collage along with a caption reading “Watch us do both!”
Protect Life Michigan
“Maybe we’ll also email it to the Health Department,” they added.
“How is ‘have a baby or don’t graduate’ female empowerment?” another commenter argued. “This is insulting.”
Other women shared their own stories of mothering children while completing their education in response to the offensive message. Many had even received multiple degrees. One exceptional story came from Iesha Champs, a strong-willed single mom of five who made her way through law school while parenting alone.