For each question or set of questions, students must respond with an answer of no less than 400500 words, and must reference at least 2 of the required texts from the unit. Students are also encouraged to think about each question in relation to their own life experience, and to think about the connections between the ideas contained in each unit.Considering the units readings, film and web-based materials, and using a critical analysis, discuss a representation (or set of representations) in advertising (or popular media) that you think challenge the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity as discussed in the film Killing Us Softly.
How so?comment on the two post below1. Considering the units readings, film, and web-based materials, and using a critical analysis, discuss a representation (or set of representations) in advertising (or popular media) that you think to challenge the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity as discussed in the film Killing Us Softly.In this week’s readings and films, we look at the image of women in media and advertising. The film Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women is an address of these issues in documentary form by Jean Kilbourne. The film attempts to address the topics of how advertising attempts to create the ideal woman. It touches on several key points throughout the film, such as the creation of the ideal body image and its effect on young girls, the objectification of women, the lack of diversity and the whitewashing in ads, over-sexualization of women in advertising, and the promotion of impossible standards of thinness.The questions raised is to find an example in advertising that challenges the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity as discussed in the film. One such example would be the “This Girl Can” movement funded by Sports England. The movement was spurred off of a study that found that U.K. women were exercising less because they are intimidated by sports and are ashamed of their bodies. The advertisement is fast paced and inspiring. Most importantly, it is inclusive of all body types, ages, races, and activities. It is a celebration of women and their ability to move, rather than the objectification of their bodies and all of the other stereotypes presented in the Kilbourne’s film (TheNationalLottery, 2015)). Upon further research, I even found that this campaign does not stop at a singular video but instead has become a movement spurred by the release of many more videos on the This Girl Can website. On the website are additional inspiring videos, stories from women, and resources and information for women to access to get active (This Girl Can). While the This Girl Can movement is a great example of positive messages to women and the challenging of stereotypes in advertising, it is still an attempt to counter the effect of bad advertising for so long; it is not a change in the way that advertisers advertise, but rather an organization trying to change the way that people think about advertisers. I believe that for advertising to truly be different from the rest, it should effortlessly express the notion of equality in advertising so that no thought goes into the message being said. In other words, an advertisement should mimic real life and real women. Not to say that inspirational and/or thought-provoking messages should not be produced, but rather they should not be the only attempt in advertisers stride to equality in advertising. There should instead be a normalcy to the equality of womens representation in advertising.
2. Do you think advertising and other mainstream media reflect and construct a gender dichotomy in Canadian society? How so?Yes, I do believe that there is a gender dichotomy being reflected and enforced by the mainstream media. The mainstream media tends to focus on whether two very different stereotypes of individuals: a stereotypical female and a stereotypical male. I do not believe that the mainstream media is directly the result of advertising, but I do think that it is an enforcer of the already established stereotypical roles of men and women. My reasoning behind this belief is that advertisers must advertise to the society in which they reside, albeit perpetuating the dichotomy already established. Take for instance the initial marketing of video games. When video games were first introduced with games such as Pong (1972) they were marketed to the whole family. However, as an incline of rather bad games hit the market, adults were no longer interested in the games. The response to this was for marketers to move video games into the toys section, instead choosing to market to children. A problem arose from this, however by this point, the toys section had been divided into boys and girls. So rather at random, Nintendo began making games for and marketing directly to boys. Other companies followed suit, creating a believe that video games were meant for boys (Hess, 2013). This whole example outlines how marketers can indeed contribute to and also create a binary system. While I am unconvinced on whether or not they directly create the system, I am sure that they are a main enforcer of that system.ReferencesHobbs, M., & Rice, C. (2013). Gender and womens studies in Canada: Critical terrain, an introductory womens and gender studies reader. Toronto, Ontario: Womens Press.Jhally, S. (Director). (2010). Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women[Video file]. United States: Media Education Foundation. Retrieved June 19, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnAY6S4_m5This Girl Can. (n.d.). WAYS TO GET ACTIVE. Retrieved June 19, 2018, from http://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/activities/TheNationalLottery. (2015, January 23). This Girl Can what about you? Retrieved June 19, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsP0W7-tEOc&t=15sHess, A. (2013, December 04). A History of Sexist Video Game Marketing. Retrieved June 19, 2018, from http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/04/female_gamers_and_masculine_marketers_polygon_s_history_of_the_sexist_selling.html
Considering the units readings, film and web-based materials, and using a critical analysis, discuss a representation (or set of representations) in advertising (or popular media) that you think challenge the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity as discussed in the film Killing Us Softly.
Jean Kilbournes Killing Us Softly (4) moves through a series of aspects relevant to advertising such as the environment, objectification of women, the significant impact it has had on the idea of body image particularly for thinness, and the sexualization of young girls. Kilbourne ends her documentary by discussing the manifestation of violence in our culture as a result from advertising and as a consumerist society. For the purposes of this post I will be analyzing the films section on thinness and provide several examples of current body image campaigns in the fashion industry to combat traditional advertisements exploiting women and/or stimulate change. Popular culture around the world ridicules celebrities for being too fat. Unsolicited photos are posted on magazine covers with a caption that invariably states that the woman (or man) is going through some sort of crisis in their lives. You need look no further than a grocery store isle to find proof of it. Kilbourne sees these tabloids as a catalyst for eating disorders in young women when coupled with the broader marketing industry. From deodorant to pencil dresses, women are subjected to altered photos of those they idolize and aspire to be, whom have had their proportions digitally altered, and this making the ideal body impossible to reach. Kilbourne also shows a correlation between women being made guilty for eating, and the sexualization of food advertisements. These are all serious issues, especially for a vulnerable young woman who is being sexually socialized from birth in events such as child pageants or as shown by youth makeup sales increases (Hobbs and Rice, 2013, p. 325), however; there are recent examples in pop culture and the fashion/beauty industry that are showing some corporate social responsibility. Kilbourne provides an example in her film about Kate Winslet and her outspoken rebuke to magazine publishers who published altered photos of her. On the fashion side of advertising, Forever 21 launched a new denim clothing line showcasing larger models, and ethnic diversity in advertising – mind you its a 3:1 white to black ratio (Zamon, 2017). Perhaps more widely known is the Dove campaigns for self-image, Dove also has a self-esteem campaign that focuses on young girls. Dove provides a statistic (sources unknown) that 6 out of 10 girls are so concerned with the way they look that they opt out of important activities (Dove, 2017), clearly this campaign is needed. The last example of change I would like to provide is perhaps a bit more unexpected, because it involves a man who was recently featured as the CoverGirl on the front page of the magazine. James Charles started doing makeup tutorials at home and was noticed by CoverGirl and subsequently featured. He then went on to have an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, I highly recommend you have a look at the applicable reference below to watch that interview (Wong, 2016). Although this last example doesnt necessarily address the problem of altering ones appearance to meet an impossible standard, it does represent the potential for a paradigm shift in the industry that almost exclusively sexualizes women.I must give due credit to my wife for showing me that last article/video, Id never heard of it before. When we watched it together I thought it was a little ironic that she compared herself to him and thinks he is prettier that she is (her words not mine!). This makes me wonder if the normalization of men wearing makeup would be a good thing by lessening the sexualization of women, or would it perhaps compound the problem of self-image since now there would be more unrealistic people to try and model yourself after. For those who read my post Id be interested in your opinion on this! Do you think advertising, and other mainstream media reflect and construct a gender dichotomy in Canadian society? How so?
Yes, I think advertising and mainstream media construct a gender binary. I believe I explored the idea of this regarding advertising in section one of this post, so Ill focus on the second video supplied in this weeks reading to illustrate and support my position.The Oscars and the Bechdel Test video featuring Anita Sarkeesian details three criteria to meet for a movie to be considered gender inclusive of women. At first glance I would have thought that the conditions would easily be met: (1) the movie has to have at least two women in it, (2) who talk to each other, and (3) about something besides a man but I would be wrong. This represents an obvious and unequal gender binary in Hollywood, and Sarkeesians recommendation of adding a fourth condition of (a) conversation longer than sixty seconds significantly reduces the already small catalog of movies that meet the first three conditions.Sarkeesian also introduces an adaptation to the Bechdel test by Alaya Dawn Johnson who suggests analyzing a film based off three very similar criteria but replacing women with people of colour. These conditions are: (1) It has to have two POC in it. (2) Who talk to each other, and (3) about something other than a white person. The only movie I can think of recently that meets the criteria of both these tests is the 2017 film Hidden Figures which I will be doing my Film review assignment on. If you havent seen that movie, please do. Hidden Figures tells the (true) story of three historically prominent black women who work for NASA in late 1950s / early 60s who become central to the success of putting an American in orbit during the US/Soviet space race.These advertising mediums and the entertainment industry illustrate how there is a clear divide in how a system of gender binary is reflected and constructed in our society. It is introduced to us in the early stages of childhood and is perverse in adulthood. Impossible expectations are set (mostly for women), and you are conditioned through media to mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically punish yourself for failing to meet impossible standards; we therefore do everything we can to get as close as we can, but never truly be satisfied. The world needs more Dove campaigns! Thanks for reading, looking forward to your comments. References:Sarkeesian, A. (2012, February 15). The Oscars and the Bechdel Test. Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://feministfrequency.com/video/the-2012-oscars-and-the-bechdel-test/Hobbs, M., & Rice, C. (2013). Gender and womens studies in Canada: Critical terrain, an introductory womens and gender studies reader. Toronto, Ontario: Womens Press.Jhally, S. (Director). (2010). Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women[Video file]. United States: Media Education Foundation. Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnAY6S4_m5IDove. (2017). Dove Campaigns. Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://www.dove.com/ca/en/stories/campaigns.htmlWong, C. M. (2016, November 14). The First Ever Male CoverGirl Says He’s Mistaken For Being Trans. Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/james-charles-covergirl-transgender_us_5829e8a7e4b02d21bbc9abfcZamon, R. (2017, August 23). Forever 21 Launches A Curvy Line Of Jeans To Up Your Denim Game. Retrieved June 18, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/08/23/forever-21-curvy-jeans_a_23158785/
