143 communicate because the signs that were used were confusing or ambiguous. This was
evident on the close examination required by this kind of exercise.
With regard to attractiveness, the severely cropped half images of people made me lose
interest in this pamphlet. Their presentation in this manner could be either a deliberate attempt to make the design look modern or different, be due to space constraints, or be due to lack of expertise. However, they were not good images, as the people were not clearly identifiable (as men or women) and therefore the pamphlet did not look attractive. My assumption was that this could have a negative effect on the target audience, especially if the viewer thinks that the images are portrayed in this way due to a lack of expertise by the producers. If that happened to be the case the pamphlet would not only lose its attractiveness, but would lose credibility as well.
144 Diagram 14: COVER PAGE OF THE MAGAZINE (Phela Health and Development
Communications)
The magazine features eight articles on the following topics: (1) self-esteem; (2) relationships, (3) sexual relationships; (4) myths about sex; (5) masturbation; (6) facts about HIV and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS); (7) contraception and; (8) what you can do.
Only the fifth article on masturbation was used for the research, as it is not about relationships or HIV testing and these topics were covered in the poster and the pamphlet. Article number five was also used to assess how the participants react to material on a topic that may not be familiar to them, as it is not often discussed openly in Lesotho. Because masturbation is not a commonly discussed topic, even with regard to HIV and AIDS issues, it was deemed
interesting to assess how participants received, understood and reacted to new information that they may not have been previously exposed to.
145 Article 5 covers only one page. It contains a picture of a male nurse who, through a speech balloon, explains what masturbation is. The page also contains two paragraphs and four bulleted texts. The first paragraph explains the role of masturbation and informs men, women, boys and girls that it is preferable to masturbate, rather than engage in penetrative sex, and then goes on to explain that this is a way to avoid HIV.
The second paragraph and the first bullet address the myths about masturbation. Bullets two and three discuss why people should masturbate. Bullet four advises on what can be done whenever one gets aroused. There are also six highlighted strips put in pairs (three in English and three in Sesotho) that serve as a dictionary to explain four assumed to be difficult English words in Sesotho. The words explained or translated in this dictionary include: guilty
(molato), climax (sehlohlolo sa ho khotsofala), simply meaning maximum satisfaction of a sexual desire, and aroused (ho tsoheloa), meaning that the body’s sexual feelings are aroused.
These four words are also highlighted with an underline in the text. The article ends with a large, boldly written statement in blue font: It is normal! to emphasise that it is normal to masturbate.
146 Diagram 15: ARTICLE 5 OF THE MAGAZINE (Phela Health and Development
Communications)
5.3.1 ANALYSIS OF THE MAGAZINE
The article advises on how to avoid penetrative sex while achieving a thorough fulfillment of sexual desire. Besides explaining the concept of masturbation, the article also clarifies the myths and misconceptions about masturbation. An assessment of the messages found the material to contain different layers of meaning, although the picture does not obviously explain the content of the text. Still, both text and image can be said to be the fragments of a syntagm to which each contributes in its own discrete way, even though there are no pictures that indicate where people are supposed to touch themselves, or others, in order to masturbate.
It can be supposed that the picture of the male nurse signifies the credibility of the material, since it represents someone who is supposed to be trustworthy and knowledgeable on biological issues such as masturbation. The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council
147 (1998:26) justifies an understanding that credibility measures the degree to which producers and preachers of a message are considered to be knowledgeable and trustworthy. The material was readable and consisted of a ‘lookable’ (attractive) layout and it conveyed a clear, simple and direct text message. I concluded this because sense was made of the photograph, symbols and typography. The headings, bullets, summary and a statement of purpose could all be linked. The information made me feel happy, since I was not aware that through masturbation one can safely achieve maximum satisfaction of sexual desire.
5.3.2 CRITIQUE OF THE MAGAZINE
The material is very informative, attractive, persuasive, acceptable and credible, although it would have been more understandable if it had pictures that complemented the text and explicitly indicated physiologically (literally which body parts) how to masturbate. However, since it was communicating a rather culturally sensitive topic, making it difficult to elaborate the message explicitly through pictures, as a Mosotho woman, I accepted it as it is.