Sir, - The objections by women's groups to the current Business & Finance cover (Irish Times, August 23rd) is rather like claiming that the 1940s collection boxes for the RSPCA, in the form of an injured dog holding up a paw, advocated violence against animals.
The prone woman being ground under a jackboot is an image familiar to most people, from propaganda of the first half of the century. Far from being intended to evoke violence against women, it was intended to stir up all the protective instincts of young males, so that they'd go rushing off to sign up. The woman under the jackboot might be labelled "Armenia" or "Poland", or "Irish Business", but the response evoked from the viewer is intended to be sympathy for the plight of the victim. rather than identification with the owner of the jackboot.
Any familiar image carries a cargo of associations, which are not necessarily consciously read, but are certainly grasped. The associations with the Business & Finance cover for me, and I think for most people, are with that early propaganda.
There are plenty of nasties around (for instance, the recent cider ad - "she was young and juicy, so I squashed her"), but common sense has to come into the equation as well. You can't ban every use of the female image, every allusion to a common cultural heritage.
Goodbye, Mother Eireann! - Yours, etc.,
Monkstown, Co. Dublin.