Fiona Robinson

Political Cartoon
English 101

I chose this cartoon from the Salt Lake Tribune. I believe it is fairly relevant to females
living in Utah right now. What is shown is a fair haired, wide-eyed, rosy-checked, very pregnant
woman. With the words Utah Gov. Herberts Faith-Based Abstinence-Only Birth Control
Program Is Called Having A Baby. The cartoonist planned ahead and knew his audience.
Conservative Utah.

The cartoon is from editorialist Pat Bagley, who is known for his witty and liberal column
in the Tribune. He has a degree in Political science from Brigham Young University. Lets get his
message out of the way before we start to analyze his approach. He is stating that a birth control
program that relies solely on a persons faith and abstinence does not work and is a nave way of
thinking.

Now looking at the delivery of this message. The first thing I noticed was the woman. No
age for her is listed, but because she has pig-tails, this gives her a sense of being young or nave.
Innocent. Next I noticed, big, open, deer in the headlights eyes. According to the online Urban
Dictionary -Deer in the headlights means A mental state of high arousal caused by anxiety, fear,
panic, surprise or confusion Also noticed how the corners of her mouth are turned in down in

disappointment. Put it all together there is a nave woman, who is surprised/confused and slightly
disappointed. This applies specifically to Utah, because that state is known to have a high
number of people who get married at a younger age and have children at a younger age.

Next we have the words that the cartoonist chose to incorporate. He doesnt exactly tell
us what message he wants to send. The cartoonist gives a brief description of details for a
Program aimed at maintaining birth control. The cartoonist also emphasized whose idea this
program was. He knew that this cartoon would be placed in the Sunday issue of the Tribune,
whos views tend to be less on the conservative side of the political scale. He is giving you a
who is responsible, a what they proposed, and then finally the outcome, which is the total
opposite of what the plan is supposed to produce. Much like a third date, he leads you on only to
end with a teaser remark.

Pat Bagley knew who his audience was when he drew this. Utah is known for its
conservative, religious political views. When the illustrator was addressing those people of Utah,
who are conservative, he knew what affect he wanted to have on people and he knew beforehand
what his opinion on the issue was. He used strategic planning to let readers of the Tribune know
what he thought and like any sort of journalist, he did it to get people thinking and talking about
the issue. To raise awareness.