Detonate a Love Grenade

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Love can be explosive. This may be a bit much, or it may be just right.

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From Molla Space:

War is destructive and bombs take away lives. But these beautifully sculpted ceramic love grenade coin banks are designed and made to plant seeds for future growth and prosperity. Convert your love to change and save it in "A Love Grenade" and donate it to those who are in need.

Part of proceeds benefits Biaugust's cause A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism).

I fully support efforts to promote human rights. This particular example is visually provocative, and raises an interesting question about awareness of racism and prejudice in general. Recently, a study was published indicating that some efforts can actually backfire, making the situation worse.

The authors found that, ironically, those who read the controlling brochure later demonstrated more prejudice than those who had not been urged to reduce prejudice. Those who read the brochure designed to support personal motivation showed less prejudice than those in the other two groups.

According to Dr. Legault, "Controlling prejudice reduction practices are tempting because they are quick and easy to implement. They tell people how they should think and behave and stress the negative consequences of failing to think and behave in desirable ways." Legault continues, "But people need to feel that they are freely choosing to be nonprejudiced, rather than having it forced upon them."

The basic message is that people in their study did not respond well to being told what to do, and actually showed more prejudiced behavior. What do you think?

About the designers, Molla Space:

Our mission is to advocate, advance, and create the art of living in our own way. As commercialism dictates the definition of trend and fashion in our daily lives, our desire for uniqueness and creativity are often forgotten. For this reason, we hope to enrich your surroundings with self-expression, discovery and individuality through our work.

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