In Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly IV, Kilbourne shows a string of advertisements dating back to the late 1960s up to present day to demonstrate the types of messages that are being made about women and their roles in society. By stringing them together instead of just looking at them individually, it becomes easier to pick up on the subliminal messages. In her documentary, Kilbourne states that “Only 8% of an ad’s message is received by the conscious mind. The rest is worked
From watching Killing Us Softly IV and doing an in-class activity where we brought in a variety of ads depicting women, I have come to many conclusions. Women are depicted as flawless and beautiful, with thin physiques, large breasts, and ample butts.
(Here is a sample of how models have changed throughout history: http://www.diet-blog.com/07/female_body_shape_in_the_20th_century.php)
Despite growing numbers in obesity, models are still skinnier than ever. A need to being thin leads to eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and other unhealthy ways of body alterations. It is estimated that 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance (http://bit.ly/lqoYCR), 7 million American women have an eating disorder (http://bit.ly/C2Dk) and 91% of all cosmetic procedures are performed on women (Killing Us Softly IV). How are these statistics OK? Just to fit an ideal that doesn’t actually exist? Did you know that advertisers will actually take bits and pieces of a woman to create a whole new person? Do you know how much photoshopping is actually done on an image? Check out this site: http://bit.ly/rwWG4w
and reworked deep within the recesses of the brain.” This figure was surprising and shocking to me, because it goes to show that ads and television can affect us long after we’ve stopped viewing it. One big concern with this is that women and girls will continue to process messages that are meant to cut them down.
From watching Killing Us Softly IV and doing an in-class activity where we brought in a variety of ads depicting women, I have come to many conclusions. Women are depicted as flawless and beautiful, with thin physiques, large breasts, and ample butts.
(Here is a sample of how models have changed throughout history: http://www.diet-blog.com/07/female_body_shape_in_the_20th_century.php)
Despite growing numbers in obesity, models are still skinnier than ever. A need to being thin leads to eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, and other unhealthy ways of body alterations. It is estimated that 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance (http://bit.ly/lqoYCR), 7 million American women have an eating disorder (http://bit.ly/C2Dk) and 91% of all cosmetic procedures are performed on women (Killing Us Softly IV). How are these statistics OK? Just to fit an ideal that doesn’t actually exist? Did you know that advertisers will actually take bits and pieces of a woman to create a whole new person? Do you know how much photoshopping is actually done on an image? Check out this site: http://bit.ly/rwWG4w
Women also must retain a youthful and innocent look, while still amplifying sex appeal. Women are objects for men to play with, they are given no emotions, they are submissive, and all they want is sex. One ad campaign that I found that fits this description is a 2011 Gucci accessories campaign.
In the magazine, there are two pages, but unfortunately the second page is not available online. You can see other images related to this campaign here: http://capturefashion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Gucci-Fall-Winter-2011-Ad-Campaign.jpg
When I first saw this ad, I instantly thought of a strip club. The lighting, the body parts on the screen, and the very sexual poses of the models are all very reminiscent of a strip club. The body parts being shown and the men lusting after the women in the images (in the first image, the guy is actually staring at another woman across the room) are examples of the objectification and dismemberment of women that Kilbourne talks about in the documentary. It also poses the question—are they selling sex and a night club lifestyle, or are they selling a handbag?
Ads are also often violent towards women. In Killing Us Softly IV, Kilbourne shows the following Dolce & Gabbana ad:
There are 4 men looming over one girl, who is in a very provocative pose and it is essentially showing a gang rape scenario. She seems to be passive and not entirely opposed to them coming at her, which also proves the ideal that women are supposed to be passive towards men and welcome any sexual advancement that comes to them.
In another ad for Unforgivable Woman, a perfume by Sean Combs, Sean Combs is assaulting a woman by pushing her up against a wall. The name of the perfume implies that she has done something bad and that it is unforgivable, so her punishment is an unwanted sexual advancement. http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/i/Unforgivable_Woman.jpg
These aggressive advertisements send the message to men that they can be as aggressive with their partners as they want without any consequences, and it sends the wrong message about intimacy. Domestic violence is often times due to men thinking they are able to dominate the woman and the woman talks back.
If there are so many damaging effects on women’s self-esteem and self-worth, and men have become more violent towards women because of advertising, why do we still let these images continue? Why do we let ourselves be defined by someone else’s unrealistic standard of beauty? And what can we do to move forward to progress towards healthier body images and self-esteem? Here’s one suggestion: http://huff.to/peTjnH
If anyone reading this has suggestions of other ways we can take action, please let me know.
Source: Jhally, S. (Director). (2010). Killing Us Softly IV [Documentary]. USA: Media Education Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment