Jean Kilbourne's Objectification Of Women

watching the film Killing Us Softly 4 I agreed with Jean Kilbourne that advertising images objectify women and lower their self-esteem. Sexualized images are widely used and degrade women by encouraging abuse and reinforcing the idea of patriarchal society. Women are shown that femininity means being passive, innocent/ pure, and virginal but sexually experienced at the same time. To be feminine you have to be obsessed with the way you look, within this women of color are only considered beautiful if they look like the "white ideal" (light skin, straight hair, etc.). Women are also shown to be silent in many ads with their mouths covered, which helps encourage the idea of women being turned into objects which perpetuate violence against women. I agreed with Kilbourne that sometimes girls learned that sexualized behavior is seen as a declaration of empowerment although it isn't really their choice. Ultimately, being beautiful is the most important measure of being successful for women instead of being shown as smart, strong, or capable.

Boys are shown through ads that brutal violence, toughness, and insensitivity is the norm. Because of the distorted view of how women should act, men feel that those qualities like compassion, empathy, cooperation, sensitivity, etc. are feminine and cannot be shown by men.I feel that advertising images have a great influence over shaping our gender and racial schemas. Kilbourne discussed how while many feel they are immune to the effects of advertising we still process an ad's message unconsciously, after the fact. I do feel as a society overall we have made some improvement in celebrating more body types (e.g.- Ashley Graham) and strong women of color (e.g.- Serena Williams). But there is still a lot of work to be done, women of all colors and ages should include in being portrayed as