3 The dangerous ways ads see women Jean Kilbourne TEDxLafayetteCollege

Summary

The speaker discusses her journey in examining the portrayal of women in advertising since the late 1960s. She highlights the evolution of advertising's unrealistic and harmful depictions, the impact on self-esteem, and the objectification of both genders. The talk emphasizes the increasing pressure on women to conform to an unattainable ideal and the normalization of sexual violence in media. However, she also notes the emergence of activism and media literacy, offering hope for change towards a more responsible and respectful representation in advertising.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker began analyzing the image of women in advertising in the late 1960s and was possibly the first to do so, noticing a pattern in how women were portrayed.
• 🎥 In 1979, the speaker created the film 'Killing Us Softly,' which critiques the portrayal of women in advertising and has been remade three times since then.
• 🤔 The speaker often faces the question of what sparked their interest in this topic, attributing it to various factors including involvement in the women's movement and personal experiences in media and modeling.
• 👚 The speaker discusses the unrealistic and harmful expectations set for women's appearances, exacerbated by the use of Photoshop in modern advertising.
• 🧍‍♂️ Men are also photoshopped in ads, but the changes tend to make them appear larger or more muscular, unlike the thinness and youthfulness imposed on women.
• 👧 The sexualization of girls starts at a very young age in advertising, with products and imagery that normalize dangerous attitudes towards children.
• 👦 Boys are not exempt from sexualization; they are encouraged to view girls as sex objects and to be sexually precocious, fostering a culture of objectification.
• 👙 Advertising often dismembers and insults women's bodies, promoting an unrealistic and unattainable standard of beauty that affects self-esteem and body image.
• 🚫 The speaker emphasizes that the sexualization and objectification in advertising are not just harmless; they can lead to violence and have serious consequences for society.
• 🌍 Despite the challenges, there is hope for change. The speaker highlights the work of organizations, activists, and the growing awareness about media literacy and the impact of advertising.
• 💪 The speaker calls for a collective effort to challenge these images and create a better world, emphasizing the role of an educated and active public in driving profound and global changes.

Q & A

When did the speaker start collecting and analyzing images of women in advertising?

The speaker started collecting and analyzing images of women in advertising in the late 1960s.

What was the speaker's first film about advertising's image of women?

The speaker's first film was titled 'Killing Us Softly,' which was about advertising's image of women and has been remade three times since its creation in 1979.

What is the speaker's view on the impact of advertising on children's self-esteem?

The speaker believes that advertising, with its unrealistic and idealized images, negatively impacts children's self-esteem, particularly girls, leading to issues such as eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem.

How does the speaker describe the evolution of advertising targeting children?

The speaker notes that advertising targeting children has become more widespread, powerful, and sophisticated, with marketers starting to target children as young as six months old, the age at which they can recognize corporate logos.

What does the speaker suggest is the most common misconception about the influence of advertising?

The most common misconception, according to the speaker, is that people believe they are personally exempt from the influence of advertising, often claiming that ads have no effect on them.

How has the use of Photoshop in advertising affected the speaker's perspective on the image of women?

The speaker views the use of Photoshop in advertising as exacerbating the problem of unrealistic beauty standards, making it even more impossible for women to live up to these ideals and contributing to negative self-esteem.

What does the speaker argue is the difference in the way men's and women's faces are read in advertising?

The speaker argues that women's faces are often sexualized and objectified, while men's faces are less likely to be dismembered or altered in a way that detracts from their humanity.

How does the speaker describe the impact of sexualized advertising on girls?

The speaker describes the impact as harmful, stating that girls exposed to sexualized images from a young age are more prone to negative outcomes such as low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders.

What is the speaker's opinion on the normalization of violence against women in advertising?

The speaker believes that advertising often normalizes and trivializes violence against women, creating a climate where women are seen as objects, which can lead to real-world violence.

What positive change does the speaker highlight in the fight against harmful advertising practices?

The speaker highlights the emergence of numerous films, books, organizations, and media literacy programs in schools as positive changes, along with political action and activism, which give her hope for a better future.

What is the speaker's call to action for the audience?

The speaker calls for an aware, active, and educated public to challenge harmful images and create a better world, emphasizing that everyone has a stake in this issue.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Origins of Advertising's Impact on Women

The speaker began examining the portrayal of women in advertising in the late 1960s, noticing a pattern that defined femininity. They created a slide presentation and later a film titled 'Killing Us Softly,' which has been remade three times. The speaker's early experiences in media and beauty pageants, along with societal pressures on women to be thin and beautiful, are discussed. The speaker also highlights the unrealistic standards set by advertising, exacerbated by the use of Photoshop, and the alienation felt by women who do not meet these standards.

05:00

🎭 The Detrimental Effects of Beauty Standards

This paragraph delves into the unrealistic and often impossible beauty standards perpetuated by advertising, affecting both women and men, but in different ways. Women's bodies are dismembered and objectified, with a focus on thinness and youthfulness, while men are increasingly objectified but without the same societal consequences. The speaker emphasizes the impact of these images on self-esteem and the normalization of sexual violence, as well as the infantilization of girls and sexualization of young boys.

10:01

🚼 The Sexualization of Children and Cultural Shifts

The speaker addresses the sexualization of children, with products like padded bras and high heels marketed towards young girls and boys being encouraged to view girls as sex objects. The lack of sex education in the United States is contrasted with the pervasive sexual messages children receive from advertising and media. The trivialization of sex in advertising is criticized, along with the normalization of violence against women, as these images create a climate where women are seen as objects.

15:01

🌟 Hope for Change and the Role of Activism

The final paragraph offers a note of hope, acknowledging that the speaker is no longer alone in their fight against harmful advertising practices. The emergence of films, books, organizations, and media literacy education signals progress. Young activists like Julia Bloom, who successfully petitioned a magazine to limit Photoshop use, inspire the speaker. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for a more profound and global change, emphasizing the importance of an educated and aware public.

Keywords

💡Advertising

Advertising refers to the various forms of communication intended to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. In the video's context, it is the medium through which the speaker discusses the portrayal of women, noting how it has evolved over time to become more pervasive and sophisticated. The speaker points out that advertising has a significant impact on how women and girls perceive themselves and their bodies.

💡Objectification

Objectification is the act of treating a person as an object or thing, rather than as a unique individual with feelings and experiences. The video's theme revolves around the objectification of women in advertising, where they are often depicted in a way that emphasizes their physical appearance over their personal qualities. Examples from the script include the unrealistic portrayal of women's bodies and the trivialization of their sexuality.

💡Self-esteem

Self-esteem refers to the overall subjective evaluation of one's own worth. The video discusses how the portrayal of women in advertising can negatively affect their self-esteem, especially among young girls who are exposed to unrealistic beauty standards. The speaker mentions that girls often feel fine about themselves at a young age, but their self-esteem plummets during adolescence due to societal pressures.

💡Photoshop

Photoshop is a software used for image editing and manipulation. In the video, it is highlighted as a tool that contributes to the unrealistic portrayal of women in advertising by altering their appearance to fit beauty ideals. The speaker uses examples from the script to illustrate how Photoshop can transform a woman's image, creating an unattainable standard of beauty.

💡Sexualization

Sexualization refers to the imposition of sexual characteristics or behaviors onto a person or object. The video discusses the sexualization of girls and women in advertising, where they are presented in a sexual manner that is inappropriate for their age or context. The speaker criticizes the normalization of sexualized images of young girls and the impact it has on their self-perception and societal attitudes.

💡Body Image

Body image is a person's perception of their own body, including its attractiveness and acceptability. The video addresses the impact of advertising on women's body image, as they are often exposed to images that promote a narrow and unrealistic standard of beauty. The speaker notes that women and girls are constantly measuring themselves against these ideals, which can lead to dissatisfaction and low self-esteem.

💡Media Literacy

Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in a variety of forms. The speaker in the video mentions media literacy as a positive development, as it is being taught in schools and helps individuals to critically assess the messages they receive from advertising and other media sources.

💡Cultural Norms

Cultural norms are the unwritten rules and expectations that govern behavior within a society or group. The video discusses how cultural norms related to beauty and gender roles are perpetuated and reinforced by advertising. The speaker points out that these norms can be harmful, as they create unrealistic expectations and contribute to the objectification of women.

💡Feminism

Feminism is a social, political, and cultural movement that seeks to establish and achieve equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for women. The speaker's involvement in the women's movement in the 1960s and her work on the portrayal of women in advertising are framed within the context of feminism. The video suggests that feminist activism and awareness are crucial in challenging and changing harmful cultural norms.

💡Consumerism

Consumerism is the idea that the acquisition of material goods and services is the primary focus of one's life. The video criticizes consumerism for its role in promoting unrealistic beauty standards and the objectification of women. The speaker calls for a shift in focus from being primarily consumers to being active, aware citizens who challenge harmful cultural images.

💡Activism

Activism is the policy or action of using vigorous public dissent or protest to bring about change in society. The video highlights the role of activism in raising awareness about the issues discussed, such as the objectification of women in advertising. The speaker is inspired by young activists who are taking action to challenge the status quo and promote positive change.

Highlights

The speaker began collecting and analyzing images of women in advertising in the late 1960s, identifying a pattern in the portrayal of women.

In 1979, the speaker created the film 'Killing Us Softly,' which critiques the image of women in advertising and has been remade three times since.

The speaker discusses the unrealistic beauty standards set for women in advertising, which have become more intense with the use of Photoshop.

Older women are only considered attractive if they maintain a youthful appearance, a standard that is impossible to meet without digital alteration.

The speaker points out the different ways men and women are photoshopped, with men being made to appear larger and women thinner and more youthful.

The advertising industry's influence on children is highlighted, with marketing targeting babies as young as six months old.

The speaker emphasizes the subconscious and cumulative impact of advertising on individuals, despite common beliefs of being unaffected by ads.

The trivialization and pornographic attitude towards sex in advertising is critiqued, showing a shift towards more explicit content.

The speaker discusses the normalization of sexual violence in advertising, which creates a climate of danger for women and girls.

The sexualization of young girls and boys in advertising is highlighted, with products and messages that encourage inappropriate behavior.

The speaker calls for media literacy and political action to combat the negative effects of advertising on self-esteem and body image.

The importance of an educated and aware public in challenging harmful advertising images is stressed.

The speaker shares hope for change, inspired by young activists and organizations working to improve media representation.

The need for profound and global changes in advertising to create a better world for future generations is emphasized.

The speaker concludes with a call to action for citizens to prioritize their role as societal members over consumers in shaping media messages.

Transcripts

I started collecting us and talking

about the image of women in advertising

in the late 1960s as far as I know I was

the first person to do this I tore as

out of magazines put them on my

refrigerator and gradually I began to

see a pattern in the as a kind of

statement about what it meant to be a

woman in the culture I put together a

slide presentation and began traveling

around the country in 1979 I made my

first film killing us softly

advertising's image of women which I

have remade three times since then these

are some of the ads in my original

collection a long time ago feminine odor

is everyone's problem if your hair isn't

beautiful the rest hardly matters honey

your antiperspirant spray just doesn't

do it and I'd probably never be married

now if I hadn't lost 49 pounds which one

woman told me was the best of harassment

for fact she had ever seen I'm gonna do

a very abbreviated version of this talk

of course today but I want to begin with

the question that I most often get asked

which is how did you get into this what

got you started many factors in my life

led to this interest I became active in

the second wave of the women's movement

right away in the late 1960s I worked in

media I spent a year in London working

for the British Broadcasting Corporation

and a year in Paris working for a French

film company this sounds much more

glamorous than it was I was a secretary

in those days options for women were

very limited I was a secretary I was a

waitress but I did have one other option

that I rarely talked about I was

encouraged to enter beauty pageants and

to model this is artfully cropped to

make it look as if I won I was in fact

the runner-up this was my first ad and I

think the car tells you something about

how long ago this was

and this ran in a London newspaper so

modeling was one of the very few ways

that a woman could make money in those

days it was very seductive but for me it

was also alienating it was soul

destroying there was a whole lot of

sexual harassment that came with the

territory so I didn't follow that path

but it left me with a lifelong interest

in the whole idea of beauty and the

power of the image

since that time Africa housing has

become much more widespread powerful and

sophisticated than ever before babies at

the age of six months can recognise

corporate logos and that's the age at

which were marketers are now starting to

target our children at the same time

just about everyone feels personally

exempt from the influence of advertising

so wherever I go what I hear more than

anything else is oh I don't pay

attention to as I just tune them out

they have no effect on me I hear this

most often from people wearing

Abercrombie t-shirts but that's another

story the ads are the influence of

advertising is quick cumulative and for

the most part subconscious ads sell more

than products now in many ways we've

obviously come a long way but from my

perspective of over 40 years the image

of women in advertising is worse than

ever the pressure on women to be young

thin beautiful is more intense than ever

before it's always been impossible years

ago the supermodel Cindy Crawford said I

wish I looked like Cindy Crawford she

couldn't of course no one can look like

this but it's really impossible today

because of the magic of Photoshop which

can turn this woman into this woman and

then try to make us believe that an

anti-aging cream can do this now she's a

beautiful woman but older women are

considered attractive in our culture

only insofar as we stay looking

impossibly young we learned to read

men's and women's faces very differently

here we have Brad Pitt and former

supermodel Linda Evangelista about the

same age each one of them in an ad for

Chanel but he gets to look like a human

being and she's transformed into a

cartoon now sometimes every now and

a celebrity resists and as you may know

just this week Lord sent out a tweet

with an unretouched photograph below the

Photoshop version and she tweeted

remember flaws are okay good for her

but this doesn't happen very often men

are photoshopped too but when men are

photoshopped they're made bigger Andy

Roddick left when he saw the bulked up

arms on this cover photo and suggests

that they should be returned to the man

they belong to the obsession with

thinness is worse than ever because of

Photoshop her head is bigger than her

pelvis this is an anatomical

impossibility the actual model for this

ad was fired for being too fat and they

used Photoshop to create this freakish

image more recently they use Photoshop

to remove the dreaded thigh gap

unfortunately they also removed a very

important part of her body so the image

is impossible for everyone but

particularly for women of color who are

considered beautiful only insofar as

they resemble the white ideal light

skinned straight hair Caucasian features

round eyes even Beyonce's skin is

lightened in us the image isn't real

it's artificial it's constructed it's

impossible but real women and girls

measure ourselves against it every

single day of course it affects female

self-esteem and it affects how men feel

about the very real women in their lives

women's bodies are dismembered and as an

ad after ad for all kinds of products

and sometimes the body is not only

dismembered

it's insulted as in this amazing ad that

ran quite a few years ago in a lot of

women and teen magazines this is the

whole ad and I'll read you the copy your

press may be too big too saggy too Peart

too flat too full too far apart too

close together to a cup too lopsided too

jiggly too pale too padded too pointy to

pendulous or just to mosquito bites but

with depth styling products that means

you can have your hair the way you want

it

it is ludicrous but this ran in teen

magazines teen magazines target

twelve-year-old girls here they're

saying to 12 year olds your breasts will

never be okay so our girls are getting

the message today so young that they

have to be incredibly thin and beautiful

and hot and sexy and that they're going

to fail because there's no way to

measure up to this impossible ideal the

self-esteem of girls in America often

plummets when they reach adolescence

girls tend to feel fine about themselves

when they're 8 9 10 years old but they

hit adolescence when they often hit a

wall and certainly part of this wall is

this terrible emphasis on physical

perfection men's bodies are very rarely

dismembered in us more than they used to

be but still it tends to come as a shock

this ad ran about 20 years ago in Vanity

Fair these are all from the national

mainstream media and it was one of the

first examples of turning men into sex

objects but when this ad ran about 20

years ago the ad was so shocking that

the ad itself got national media

coverage it's a good thing I've got some

coverage I suppose reporters called me

up from all around the country and said

look they're doing the same thing to men

they've always done to women well not

quite

they'd be doing the same thing to men

they've always done to women if there

were copy with this ads that went like

this

your penis may be too small to limp to

limp dick droopy too lopsided too narrow

too fat too pale too pointy too blunt or

just 2 inches

but at least you can have a great pair

of jeans it would never happen nor

should it and believe me this is not the

kind of equality I'm fighting for I

don't want them to do this to men

anymore than to women but I think we can

learn something from these two as one of

which did happen one of which never

would and what they show us very vividly

is that men and women and have it very

different worlds men basically don't

live in a world in which they're well

let me move on to another there are

Serie types that are men of course but

they tend to be less personal less

related to the body however men are

objectified more than they used to be

but there really aren't consequences as

a result of that men don't live in a

world in which they're likely to be

raped harassed or beaten at least

straight white men don't live in such a

world whereas women and girls do when

women are objectified there's always the

threat of sexual violence there's always

intimidation there's always the

possibility of danger and women live in

a world defined by that threat whereas

men simply do not the body language of

women and girls remains passive

vulnerable submissive and very different

from the body language of men and boys

and probably the best way to illustrate

that is to put a man in a traditionally

feminine pose it becomes obviously

trivializing and absurd grown women are

often infantilizing as and increasingly

little girls are sexualized now I've

been talking about this for decades I

wrote a book about it and it's getting

worse this little girl is nine and this

is happening in a culture in which

there's widespread sexual abuse of

children images like this don't cause

this problem but they certainly

normalize very dangerous attitudes

towards children padded bras and thongs

panties are sold for seven-year-olds in

major department stores and the latest

product high heels for babies not to

leave boys out you can get t-shirts for

your toddlers that say things like pimp

squad so boys are sexualized too

although in a very different way than

girls boys are encouraged to look at

girl

the sex objects boys are encouraged to

be sexually precocious and boys are

learned to be tough and invulnerable

basically starting in infancy basically

we allow our children to be sexualized

but we refuse to educate them about sex

the United States is the only developed

nation in the world that doesn't teach

sex education in its schools but our

kids are getting sex education they're

getting massive doses of it but they're

getting it from advertising that puttan

the media the popular culture this is an

ad for jeans although something seems to

be missing but each one of these as four

major international products major

mainstream media very graphic

the problem isn't sex it's the cultures

pornographic attitude towards sex the

trivialization of sex and nowhere is sex

more trivialized than in advertising

where by definition it is used to sell

everything whatever you're giving him

tonight he'll enjoy it more with rice I

don't think I'm particularly naive but I

haven't figured out yet what the hell

you do with rice you know maybe it's

wild rice one woman shouted out she just

hoped it wasn't Minute Rice so this is

an old out of course and you can say

well sex is always used to sell and

that's true but it's far more graphic

and pornographic today than ever before

and just to illustrate that I'm going to

show you an old ad using this is an old

ad using sex to sell food and here's a

current one Burger King the super 7-inch

or it'll blow your mind away for a

mainstream product as is this one now

all of these images I think are actually

profoundly anti erotic because in

advertising and the popular culture

sexuality belongs only to the young and

beautiful if you're not young and

perfect looking you have no sexuality

and this makes most people feel less

desirable how sexy can a woman feel if

she hates her body the Internet has

given us all easy access to pornography

these days and as porn becomes more

available and acceptable the language

and the images of

horn become mainstream young celebrities

emulate the porn stars and these days

you can get your little girl a pole

dancing doll girls are encouraged to

present themselves as strippers and porn

stars to remove their pubic hair and to

be sexually available while expecting

little or nothing in return and at the

same time they're insulted tastes great

goes down easy as girls learn to

sexualize themselves as they learn that

their sexual behavior will be rewarded

they learn to sexualize themselves to

see themselves as objects these images

cause real harm to real girls and women

girls exposed to sexualized images from

a young age are more prone to eating

disorders depression and low self-esteem

inevitably the objectification leads to

violence and that's become much more

extreme to advertising often normalizes

and trivializes battering sexual assault

and even murder the truth is most men

are not violent overwhelmingly most men

are not violent but many men are afraid

to speak up are afraid to support women

and are afraid to challenge other men

and I have great admiration for those

men who do these ads don't directly

cause violence against women but they

normalize dangerous attitudes and they

create a climate in which women are

often seen as things as objects and

certainly turning a human being into a

thing is almost always the first step

toward justifying violence against that

person and that step is constantly taken

with women and girls so the violence the

abuse is partly the chilling but logical

result of this kind of objectification

so in all these ways things have gotten

worse but in one big way they've gotten

much better I am no longer alone there

are scores of films hundreds of films

and books and organizations like The

Brave Girls Alliance which recently had

a great event in Times Square media

literacy is being taught in our schools

there's political action taking place

around the world and I have an extensive

resource list on my website that lists

lots of these thing

I'm inspired by young activists like

Julia Bloom who at the age of 14

launched a petition to Seventeen

magazine asking them to limit their use

of Photoshop and she succeeded here

she's celebrating with some of her

allies and inspired other girls to do

the same this generation gives me hope

but we have a long way to go the changes

will have to be profound and global and

they'll depend upon and aware active

educated public people who think of

themselves primarily as citizens rather

than primarily as consumers we are all

affected by these images we all have a

profound stake in challenging them we

must create a better world for ourselves

and our children after all these years I

still have hope that we will thank you

so much

[Applause]