Summed up, advertising’s view of women is one of objectification. Ads objectify women and as Jean Kilbounre says in her video, Killing Us Softly 3, the most important thing for women is their appearance. I first saw this video in another class and thought, “oh great, a boring, outdated video.” But, as lame as this may sound, this video is not that. The concerns Kilbourne was referring to in all three of her videos of this series are still prevalent today. Her latest video on the topic of female representation in the media was done in the year 2000. After watching the video my professor asked the class for reflection. I had nothing to say. I sat there and realized how the majority of what was mentioned was true. Sure, Kilbourne does not pay enough attention to the pressure that men feel from advertising, because they do feel similar pressures as women. However, male objectification is not as common. In middle school I was a huge fan of magazines and would tear out pictures and ads I found appealing. I do not still have these, but I can specifically recall many ads that portrayed women as submissive, weak and fragile creatures.
Media is more pervasive today than it has ever been and these ads in which women are portrayed as objects rather than people are not only in magazines. Advertisements for websites pop up on the sides of Internet pages, commercials on television and the radio also aid in the depiction of women as broken down objects or sex symbols. Ads for the American Apparel website flood the sides of one of teenager’s and young adult’s favorite websites, used by both men and women, Facebook. These ads continually show women half naked with only a shirt, or if they are wearing a shirt and shorts then the shirt is practically sheer and she is wearing no bra underneath. On the radio advertisements come on trying to sell anything, and whether it relates to sex or women is unnecessary because regardless of the product a woman with a breathy, sexy voice will try to sell it to you. And as for television, I will always remember the episode of America’s Top Model in which Tyra Banks was telling the contestants the different bathing suit poses they should use according to the type of magazine they are in. In men’s magazines women are supposed to flirt with the camera, look sexy and have their legs open towards the camera. In women’s magazines the models stand hunchback, looking almost broken in awkward poses. In neither type of magazine do women take on strong poses.
All the time people say that they do not pay attention to the advertisements, but this is untrue. All the time we see ads for movies and then go out and see them, we see clothing ads and want to buy the item. When we see these clothing items we don’t just see the item itself, we see the person displaying it. When women are represented as a weak group of people who are there for the service of others it objectifies them. But objectification means nothing unless you actually think about what that word means. It means thinking about a woman, who is a human being, as an object and not a person. An object can be owned, it can be possessed, it can be treated in any way the owner/possessor wants. And who does this leave to be the owners who dominate? Men. When advertisements directed at men or women dehumanize women it instills an idea that they can be treated according to however men want. This leads to sexual, physical and emotional violence against women. It is much easier to beat up or abuse an object than a person.
Another problem is the selling of sex. Although it may be appealing, women are constantly depicted as acting sexy, being sexy, and wanting sex regardless. Men think all women are this way, or even that women who wear certain clothing are asking for sex. Then when a woman says no, a man may think no means yes. There are not advertisements for clothing in which women are all covered up looking like they are about to go run errands or sit on the couch and watch TV. Ads that portray women as less than society’s view of beautiful would not sell the product, which was brought up in my other class. But why would they not sell? How did society come to this point where advertising companies need to objectify women to sell their product? I can’t answer this question and neither could my classmates. But we did come to the realization that because society is us, we have made it this way and we will have to change it. A company cannot change the system. An institution is not going to change by itself. People need to change and make change.*My video refused to load so here is the link - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1993368502337678412#
Any article that deals with advertising and women grabs my attention. I watched the documentary, Killing Me Softly, two years ago in an introduction communication class at the University of Miami. The video left an impression on me and I still think about the video often when I analyze advertisements. It is clear that the world is surrounded by advertisements full of women as objects. Women are seen as sex symbols. If one disagrees with this, take a look around when checking out at the grocery store. Each magazine includes an airbrushed picture of a celebrity, however, the celebrity is almost always a woman. For men, the women in advertisements are meant to create sexual desire and for women they simply create insecurities. This idea that women are seen as sex symbols and that physical beauty is the number one priority has taken our world by a storm. As a result, men live in this mythical world where all women are expected to resemble the model on the cover of Vogue. Sorry men, but this is false. Women are seen as inferior, while men are seen as those in power. This directly relates to women in advertisements and has created a vicious cycle. Unfortunately, it seems that many women like to be the object of men’s desire. However, these women must take a stand and question why society has deemed women the creator of men’s happiness and sexual desire, instead of the other way around. This relationship between men and women relates to all aspects of life and all stages of life. Girls in elementary school are judged by their appearances as a result of such advertising. As an elementary student my classmates and I took ballroom dancing classes every Friday. At the end of each class the boys would choose a girl to dance with. However, some girls were left seated because they were not picked. A few years ago, while reminiscing about the ballroom dancing days in elementary school, my friend admitted that she disliked ballroom dancing and attempted to skip the activity for fear of not being picked by a boy. When I look back on the situation, I ask myself two questions. First, why did the teacher have the boys pick the girls? Why weren’t the girls allowed to choose their partner? Secondly, this example demonstrates that humans are programmed to interact with women who are more attractive than not. This problem only continues to worsen as children grow older. In college, where students are seen as responsible and mature adults, men are often heard making crude remarks about women solely based on their appearances. This is not to say that women do not do the same, however, men are more programmed to compare a woman to advertisements because society is surrounded by such pictures. I came across a video demonstrating the misconceptions that men and women make, due to their inability to understand that advertisements are simply false and the negative tolls that these ads have taken in society. This is a very interesting video and I highly suggest you take the two minutes to watch why and how such advertisements are false.
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