“Killing Us Softly”

Women may have always been self-conscious about their bodies, but advertisements have only exacerbated the problem. Professor of Psychol­ogy Amy Marcus-Newhall notes that “advertising has a persistent message that subjugates women, whether they are aware of it or not, and all women are affected.”

In the 21st century, our ex­posure to ads has become even more pervasive—in magazines, newspapers, on TV, the radio, buses, street signs and billboards. The average Ameri­can views more than 3,000 ads a day, many of which present sexist images and messages. Jean Kilbourne ex­plores the influence of modern ads in the film Killing Us Softly 3. She dem­onstrates that advertisements, which are designed primarily to sell products, also define beauty; the beauty they depict is the only acceptable form, and women must buy their products in order to achieve this ideal.

As Kilbourne says, “advertis­ing tells us who we are and who we should be.” However, the “perfect” women depicted in advertisements are unrealistic; advertisers retouch images of women as well as create computer-generated models. Because this unreal image is unattainable for most women, it negatively affects their self-esteem. As a Body Shop ad shown in the film states, “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.”

Moreover, women’s bodies are often objectified, which can be sexist and result in violence against women. Sometimes, only one aspect of a woman’s body is shown in an adver­tisement, illustrating that women are mere “things,” or a part of a thing. The depiction of women as objects is com­mon in advertisements, where they are sometimes nude or shown with their legs spread open (as exemplified in the Tom Ford ad showing the lower half of a woman’s body with a fragrance bottle strategically placed.)

Killing Us Softly 3 also notes that the repetitive appearances of ads that naturalize violence against women only worsen the situation for women. The message of these advertisements is that abuse is acceptable, which Marcus-Newhall views as a very seri­ous problem. “I would argue that it’s problematic for two reasons: One is that women perceive themselves as one option.

By being represented as sexual objects, women then perceive themselves as a single dimension and this becomes a prominent part of the schema of their identity. The second is that others, such as men, then have a very narrow stereotype of women (who they are, who they represent, and the power they should or should not hold).

Others perceive them that way, and the expectations of others, such as men, almost become self-fulfilling prophecies or a narrower window of how to view themselves.”

Jean Kilbourne in Killing Us Softly 3 also points out that “women of color are often literally shown as animals, dressed in leopard skins and animal prints. Over and over again the message is, ‘Not fully human.’” Sex and near-pornographic images sell, but the objectification of women in adver­tisements, especially women of color, reflects a serious problem in society’s view of women.

Another message portrayed in ads is that women should be sub­servient to men because men are the more powerful sex. Kilbourne says: “The obsession with thinness, I think, is really about cutting girls down to size, silencing them. So not only do we have images of very thin girls and women, but we also have many, many images of girls in ads with their hands over their mouths. Or worse, with her lips sewn together. Or silenced in many other ways.”

Meanwhile, ads often present men as being dominant in a way that seems erotic and appealing, as seen in the Dolce & Gabbana ad. The repeti­tion of such a message in advertise­ments might result in the belief that men truly are more dominant than women. Kilbourne concludes that “advertising is one powerful force that keeps us trapped in very rigid roles and in very crippling definitions of femininity and masculinity.”

She urges our society to not only reform media messages, but also change our culture’s attitude toward women and men. Perhaps this is too idealistic. Even so, we should be aware of the skewed depiction of women in advertisements and not al­low repetitive sexist ads to affect our individual perceptions of women and ourselves.