New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology » October 16th: No Class Meeting

October 16th: No Class Meeting

Kilbourne’s lecture is about 45 min, so let’s see what she has to say. I have a link to Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women from the Media Education database available through Atkins Library.

Kilbourne on Images of Women in the Media

Jean Kilbourne’s lecture on images of women in the media has been revised and re-presented for nearly 40 years. If we were to locate her thesis, it would be, roughly, that advertisements condition our feelings–consciously and unconsciously–of what it means to be a woman or a man. Additionally, she points out that although men are sometimes objectified, it’s women who suffer the most from advertising’s objectification.

{Of course, just like what we discussed concerning technology from a social perspective, what influences what? Does the media influence our perceptions of femininity and masculinity, or does society influence the media’s (re)presentations of femininity and masculinity.}

Some specific points about how advertisements “use” women:

  • Women are often shown as submissive, silent, and docile.
  • The images of women are often of manufactured or spliced-together body parts of women.
  • Also, the supermodels or “typical” models are a small percentage of the population but appear as the norm because the type is repeated constantly.
  • There appears to be a recurring pattern of infantilization of women and a sexualization of young girls in advertising.
  • Kilbourne believes that many ads show violence against women (both explicitly and implicitly), which goes along with the preponderance of domestic violence and rape of women in society as a whole.
  • In many ads, men are shown as powerful
  • Most ads conform to (hetero)normative white standards of beauty or power. Women of color seem to be “silenced” and dehumanized more according to Kilbourne.
  • Most importanly, (I guess I could be biased…) Kilbourne points out that we’re no longer citizens but consumers. Who else claims that?

Although there may be some disagreement, Kilbourne is not the only one who makes the argument that images of women in the media influence how women and girls see themselves. Additionally, she provides empirical evidence for Naomi Wolf’s idea of the beauty myth that women are supposed to conform to in patriarchal society. Wolf’s main argument is that the ‘beauty myth’ is an impossible standard to uphold, and it’s a patriarchal construction to keep women in their place:

“The modern arsenal of the [beauty] myth….is summoned out of political fear on the part of male-dominated institutions threatened by women’s freedom, and it exploits female guilt and apprehension about [women’s] liberation–latent fears that we might be going too far.” (16)

Wolf, Naomi. “The Beauty Myth.” The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. William Morrow, 1991. 9-19.

I’ve been showing this lecture for several years, and I’m amazed at the responses I get. I’m especially amazed at the defensive tone many male students have about Kilbourne’s argument. I’ve heard that she’s just a scorned feminist who’s “taking out her frustrations on men” to arguments that she is manipulating her evidence by choosing particularly suspect ads. However, the ads she shows are quite representative of images of women in the media. For examples, see the following “industry” websites:

One thing I have noticed about the images of women and girls on the magazine sites above that’s different from many of the images Kilbourne shows is that Kilbourne’s selection had many images of vulnerable, passive women and girls. While those images haven’t gone away entirely from my unscientific sampling of magazines (especially perfume/cologne ads), the above sites have an abundance of happy, active women and girls. Everything from new jeans to ice cream seems to make the models happy. I wonder what that says about advertising? These happy women and girls still conform to Kilbourne’s argument that petite, white, airbrushed models are the standard for conventionally beauty images. I have noticed more of a range in types of models over the past 15-20 years, but I think Kilbourne’s main argument still holds overall.

But her most airtight claim is about the ideal(ized) version of women digitally enhanced and manufactured: Take a look at this Dove commercial for a look at how to construct the “perfect” woman.

Critical Media Analysis

I gave you feedback on your Critical Analysis of Culture essays, so it’s time to start thinking about the next essay: Critical Media Analysis Essay (Due 11/25). Check out Canvas for details. On your own, try to do a rhetorical analysis of this Fox News segment and consider the following questions:

  • What metaphors does Beck use for his view of government “addiction”?
  • Why do you think Beck compares the answers to the poll to France?
  • Why would an American audience be persuaded by this? Now, you might not, but that’s irrelevant for this analysis. The speaker is attempting to convey a message–what is it, and how does he convey it?
  • What cultural beliefs do you think Beck is tapping into when he mentions “the soul of America”?
  • Yes, this is 15 years old, so, if you want an updated Glenn Beck, here you go.
    • “I dismiss experts…” (21:00-22:50)

Next Week

We’re back face to face next week. Don’t forget to do your Weekly Discussion Post before Friday, 10/11. We’ll be discussing Misunderstanding the Internet “Preface,” “Chapter 1,” and “Chapter 2,” so make sure you’ve read it.