Gender Stereotypes In The Film 'Killing USftly 4'

Whether we are realizing it or not, we are almost always surrounded by advertisements. The most used influential tools of advertising in today’s society are women. However, women are not viewed as models or actresses rather in these ads they are just objects for people to use, look at, abuse, and much more. In the fourth installment in a line of documentaries, “Killing Us Softly 4,” Jean Kilbourne explains the influence of advertising women and its relationship to gender violence, racism, sexism, and eating disorders. The advertisements emphasize the ideal female body. Young girls are taught that they need to achieve this ideal body however it takes, but realistically this cannot be achieved. The ideal woman’s body is very skinny, Caucasian,

Throughout the film we are shown various prints and television advertisements that show a pattern of damaging gender stereotypes that often reinforce unhealthy and unrealistic perceptions of beauty, sexuality, and perfection. These advertisements further objectify women and continuously perpetuates masculine dominance. Jean Kilbourne emphasis that human qualities should be shared and not categorized in advertisements because labeling men as tough and women as weak promotes violence and power within certain groups. These images of the aggressive, strong, insensitive man push an aggressive, dominant agenda while women are passive. She concludes the documentary by discussing how society has to continuously be aware of these norms and values in our everyday lives to resolve these advertisement

I think movements like the one Jean Kilbourne launched are important to attempt and push for less obstructive violent messages in advertisement. Jean Kilbourne made many valid and strong points in her speech, however there was one quote that really stood out to me. To quote: “Ads sell more than products. They sell values, they sell concepts, they sell images of love and sexuality, of success, and perhaps most important, of normalcy. To a great extent they tell us who we are and who we should be.” No wonder why women are often looked down on and struggle to destroy inaccurate depictions of themselves. Media is a powerful tool that can be very destructive in the wrong hands. Media has the ability to change the world for the good or for the worse. It gives us the message. It can push unto vulnerable groups violence that is undeserving. With this knowledge, it is our job to respond with responsibility. Once we fix advertisements and rewrite a new message to impressionable minds, we can destroy stereotypes and start to create a society of