Jean Kilbourne’s, Killing Us Softly 3, displayed some great examples on how the media influences gender identities, and an inside look into what advertisements are actually trying to sell. I strongly believe that the media does perpetuates rigid and narrow conceptualizations of masculinity and femininity. Advertisements are a huge media outlet that influences gender. As Kilbourne explains, women’s most important quality is their looks. Advertisements depict the ideal female image, which is unrealistic. Women are taught to reach for ideal beauty, and strive to look like women in the images of advertisements. What many women don’t know is that those women do not exist (or if they do it would be about 10 in the entire world). With computer re-touching, these models in the ads are completely transformed to look they way they do in the final product. Women are taught to spend time, money, and effort to look this way and figure if they don’t succeed then they are not trying hard enough. Advertisements are a huge misinterpretation, and plant a lot of false hope in women. I think this is rally sad that women are submitted to this type of “ideal”, unrealistic beauty model. However, I do admit that I will open up a magazine and even though I am aware that there was air brushing and all that, I still think “I want to look like that”. Girls as young as 8 (and possibly younger) are beginning to want to diet, own brand labeled items, and feel overall ugly. They are so young to be thinking about any of those subjects, its sad that girls nowadays can’t even enjoy childhood because of all the pressure to be attractive.
This images can also intersect with race and class. Advertisements are trying to sell not only the product but a lifestyle, sex, and values. An interesting point this presentation brought up was about the children in advertisements. How even at such a young age girls are depicted as passive, shy and looking up at the boy. While, the boy is shown as strong, tough, active and looking down at the girl. The few times this doesn’t happen is when there is a different race involved, in this case they would depict the girl looking down at the boy of color. When you first glimpse at an ad none of this might be apparent, but if you stop and really look at one it is crazy what you will see.
Kilbourne states that we see 3,000 ads every single day, and spend 3 years of our lifetime watching advertisements on television. So how can we escape it all, and get back to reality?
It really is disgusting how the media makes kids at such a young age feel now. I've met kids who have the latest clothing, the latest gadgets, and yet they still don't feel good enough because every time they turn on the tv they see another ad for a new line of clothing that tells them they aren't cool enough if they don't have it. It's a never ending fight to be just like the add model and it's sad. Not only do women feel inferior but men's ads too. If you don't have a 6 pack you're a failure and if you don't have an 8 pack then you're just not cool. It's ridiculous the way they want people to look. It's impossible.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also pretty amazing is that we will spend like 3 years just watching TV commercials and we see about 3,000 ads a day. It just goes to show how subtle these ads are -- some people even think they aren't affected by them at all!
ReplyDeleteHere's a good ad I found that demonstrates the computer touch-ups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XF66Ku4a9U
@DF: It does seem that once people get something they end up just wanting something else. Also, with the rate that technology is moving things become obsolete in no time.
I think we're all being a little hard on the media, one could argue that the ads are targeted to us because of what we respond to and not the other way around. And I would also argue that where are the kids seeing the ads that she showed us and why? I think she was reading in a little too much to the two ads Kilbourne used from parenting magazines and I hardly think that pulling four ads out of years worth of parenting magazines is a fair representation.
ReplyDeleteI'm not arguing that the media doesn't play role in how we view ourselves and the world we live in, I just don't think it is all the media's fault. I was horrified by a lot of what Kilbourne displayed in her presentation but there is something to be said for reading into things a little too much. "Barely There Foundation" a euphemism for women being invisible? I don't think so...