Eli Pardue
1/30/07
AP Lang. Comp.
LaMags
Two Ways a Woman can get Hurt
Jean Kilbourne argues that men and women in the media are misrepresented as sex symbols and tools. However, she argues that the advantage is taken over women much more than it is men.
Media advertising has for a long time chosen to appeal to either women or men specifically. In the latter part of the 1900's and into the current decade, specific appeal has begun to range into the overtly sexual. For products appealing to men, attractive half naked women are more often than not used to sell you the product. Even with preteen audiences, such as as an old Pepsi commercial that shows a group of young boys ogling Cindi Crawford as she displays a can of the refreshing drink, attractive women with sex appeal are used profusely.
The advertisements get worse. in the late nineties, MTV used an ad that just shows a women with exposed breast. just below her bosom is the word "bitch." In Europe, advertisements are used that actually show men attacking women, supposedly because she is wearing a specific pair of jeans. Other acts of violence toward women are used. They even get to the point where women look purposely submissive and sexually inviting. Such tactics are still used today, even going so far as to encourage young women to tease and act submissive.
Kilbourne argues that when these advertisements range into displaying violence towards women, that violence will soon become more socially acceptable. In addition, advertisements that encourage women and young girls to act in a submissive,teasing manner further promotes sexual harassment and violence when resisted. This is shown well in her argument through the use of many court cases and media stories as examples of abusive behavior. A three year old girl was accused of being sexually suggestive by a Canadian judge when sexually abused by her babysitter. he was let off without charges. Other like cases have received media attention, such as when a six-year old pageant queen was referred to as a preteen by the media regarding a sexual scandal. Other victim accounts of sexual harassment are increasingly usual in public schools. It is difficult for many gilrs to walk down the hallway without being sexually harasse, verbally and physically.
I personally agree with the assessment made by Kilbourne, but I think that she places much too much responsibility for these actions on the media, rather than the people who actually did them. She fails to seriously take into account male adolescence and how it is much more intense in certain people. Beyond male adolescence, the perpetrators know full well what they are doing and if asked will certainly know that abusing women is wrong. The fact that they do it anyways can be attributed to the media. Because of this, exploitation of both men and women in the media needs to be recognized.
Media advertising has for a long time chosen to appeal to either women or men specifically. In the latter part of the 1900's and into the current decade, specific appeal has begun to range into the overtly sexual. For products appealing to men, attractive half naked women are more often than not used to sell you the product. Even with preteen audiences, such as as an old Pepsi commercial that shows a group of young boys ogling Cindi Crawford as she displays a can of the refreshing drink, attractive women with sex appeal are used profusely.
The advertisements get worse. in the late nineties, MTV used an ad that just shows a women with exposed breast. just below her bosom is the word "bitch." In Europe, advertisements are used that actually show men attacking women, supposedly because she is wearing a specific pair of jeans. Other acts of violence toward women are used. They even get to the point where women look purposely submissive and sexually inviting. Such tactics are still used today, even going so far as to encourage young women to tease and act submissive.
Kilbourne argues that when these advertisements range into displaying violence towards women, that violence will soon become more socially acceptable. In addition, advertisements that encourage women and young girls to act in a submissive,teasing manner further promotes sexual harassment and violence when resisted. This is shown well in her argument through the use of many court cases and media stories as examples of abusive behavior. A three year old girl was accused of being sexually suggestive by a Canadian judge when sexually abused by her babysitter. he was let off without charges. Other like cases have received media attention, such as when a six-year old pageant queen was referred to as a preteen by the media regarding a sexual scandal. Other victim accounts of sexual harassment are increasingly usual in public schools. It is difficult for many gilrs to walk down the hallway without being sexually harasse, verbally and physically.
I personally agree with the assessment made by Kilbourne, but I think that she places much too much responsibility for these actions on the media, rather than the people who actually did them. She fails to seriously take into account male adolescence and how it is much more intense in certain people. Beyond male adolescence, the perpetrators know full well what they are doing and if asked will certainly know that abusing women is wrong. The fact that they do it anyways can be attributed to the media. Because of this, exploitation of both men and women in the media needs to be recognized.
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