What is framing?
To briefly illustrate how framing works,
I'll summarize a clever study done by two researchers from Stanford (see
endote for citation).
Two
groups of students each read a fictitious news article about crime. In
one version, the article refers to crime as an infection; in the other,
crime is a wild animal. In all other ways, the two articles are
otherwise identical. After reading the article, the students are asked
what they think should be done to prevent crime.
Students who had read about crime as a "beast
preying on the city" thought that there should be more enforcement.
Students who read about crime as a "virus infecting the city" thought
more should be done about social reform. When asked to identify what in
the article had influenced their thinking, most students pointed to the
stats in the article, not the metaphor.
So what do frames have to do with environmentalism?
Lately,
I've wondered if we are framing our relationship to Earth in the wrong
way. We always say "Mother Earth". But, at least in the United States,
you do not take care of your mother. You respect your mother, but
your mother is not your responsibility in the same way your child is
your responsibility.
The connotation of mother brings along other images
besides one of respect. For example, I associate my
mother with caring for me and for punishing me when I've been naughty.
Let's explore those two frames a little more.
The "caring mother" frame is pretty obvious to
identify in mainstream media-- take, for example, movies like Avatar.
Interestingly enough, the "punishing mother" frame is
ALSO frequently reflected in the general media. For example, apocalytpic
movies like The Day After Tomorrow show Mother Earth as finally
reaching the breaking point and giving us a really bad spanking.
Alternatively, Mother Earth can ground us (sending us to bed without
dinner, not letting us watch TV, etc) by turning into a post-apocalytpic
world wherein our old standards of living can not be met. We see
examples of this type of "punishing mother" frame in movies like
Water World or Wall-E.
What I am wondering is if maybe there is a better
frame for Earth. What if we thought about the Earth as our BABY? If the
Earth was our child, it would be our responsibility to care for it. It
would also bring up feelings and images of parental love. These sorts of
feelings, I believe, are often associated with campaigns protecting
charistmatic mega-fauna. That these campaigns have worked well would
suggest that we should capitalize on this framing.
Seems like an idea at least worthy of a little more exploration. Your thoughts?
Thibodeau & Boroditsky (2011). Metaphors We Think With: The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning. PLoS One 6(2).
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