Two Ways Women Can Get Hurt Jean Killbourne Summary

“Depiction of men and women as sex objects”

In the article “Two Ways a Women Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence” Jean Killbourne talks about different ways women can get hurt through advertising for products and the way the images have an effect on everyone, ultimately leading to domestic violence.

Although some advertising objectifies men and women, it’s more when people are being displayed as objects. The negative effects affect women are things such as self-image and drug abuse. Men and women should be depicted as sex objects in advertising because it has a negative effect on their self-image and leads to drug abuse and also domestic violence.

In the advertising business, they have a saying that has been used for many

years “Sex Sells”. Billions of dollars are made off of sex every year, by men and women. Some of the gimmicks used in advertising lures a person into buying a product while at the same times giving you subtle negative undertones. Such as the perfume ad from Kilbourne’s article that reads “Wear it, but beware of it” (Kilbourne 275). My interpretation of this is it means that the product is so great that the possibilities wearing a fragrance, whether bad or good are endless. Many women would buy it because they love a good perfume, especially if it’s going to open up the doors for them. On the negative side, it tells people that it can likely drive a person crazy literally, so the person buying the product should beware of the negative attention it may attract.

“Women are obsessed with the way they look on a daily basis”, according to Jean Killbourne.

Due to the woman’s obsession to have a look of perfection, when the media shows beautiful women with long hair, amber colored eyes, thin body shape, and a flawless skin-color/complexion, the average women starts to think and find ways so she can come to have the same body perfection. In the article about women self-objectification found that “women who viewed images of a thin model exhibited greater body dissatisfaction than women who viewed images of a full body model” (Tiggemann, Harper

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Women’s bodies are portrayed as objects in most ads “which dehumanizes her by turning the normal attitude of someone into sexual transgression” (Killbourne 420).

Once there has been a psychological disconnect of being human and inhuman, it turns the object into the aggressor’s possession. It has been reported by the Global Report on Women’s Right’s that “Domestic violence is the leading cause of female injury in almost every country in the world” (Killbourne 277). A sad example of this is the actor/singer Jennifer Hudson. She lost her mom, nephew and another family member due to an act of domestic violence. Her brother in law could not bear the fact of losing his family to another man, so he decided that if he couldn’t have what he wanted, no one else would. Due to his deranged thinking, he nearly took out most of her immediate family and didn’t care about the consequences of his actions or the effect it would have on everyone in the

family.
The media also glorifies violence against women. In movies and on television you see the male dominating the women by using psychological force and emotional degradation. This leads to women thinking she is worthless and useless without a man and the abuse they are enduring is a sign of love. Often, times women stay in a violent relationship out of fear or uncertainty without their only known source of “well-being and love”. These tactics are used by men to keep the women in control. It has been used and accepted by many generations, even today. The media has and will continue to portray this as an acceptable form of discipline between men and women because drama and sex are in the top tier antics in the media and it undoubtedly sells.

In the article titled “The impact of Violence Against Women in Advertising” states” By viewing women as exclusively sexual beings whose purpose is to sexually arouse and gratify men, a power different in which are generally subordinate”( Capella, Hill,Kapp, Kess, Par3). When a women starts to feel she has no significance her self-esteem starts to decline rapidly. Then causes them to fall into a deep depression which she will then ways of self-medicating in order not to fell depressed or to endure more abuse. The self-medicating will lead to drug abuse. The most commonly drugs used amongst those in the media are cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs.
As for men in advertising, the Calvin Klein underwear commercial is responsible for depicting men as sex objects. Most of Calvin Klein’s ads feature muscular men with perfect bodies in nothing but a pair of under wear. In the article titled” Idealized Images Of The Body In Advertising: A Reader Response Exploration it stated” undertook a study of" male body obsession and found that advertisements for everything from cars to underwear were using body-builder images with 'washboard abdominal muscles, massive chests and inflated shoulder’s a
Combination of muscularity and leanness probably achievable only by drugs” (Elliot, R and Elliot, C 2). For a man this demonstrates masculinity, confidence and overall success, all of which are positive. This give credibility to the thoughts of some that “Many boys grow up feeling that they are unmanly if they are not always ready for action, capable of and interested in having sex with any women who is available” (Killbourne 285). If a male does not live up this image he not considered a man. Even though this body image is not usually obtained the traditional way of going to the gym working out five to seven day a week for several hours. The man is usually always willing to do what it ever it takes to obtain the “Adonis” figure. Even if this means that he must use performance enhanced steroids that usually always has a negative effect their bodies and brain functioning. Some have even been known to kill their entire family and themselves due to extreme paranoia.
Some reports have proved that males will have lower self-esteem after viewing muscular ideal images and that pressure from the mass media has not influenced every negative self-image. ( Barlett, Vowels, and Saucier 279 ) Another major source of negative self-image is the person them self. Once a starts to think of themselves as less than perfect, they will generally of obtaining their ideal image. In general, men are not judged harshly as women when it comes to advertising. Men usually enjoy the attention that media exposure entails. It gives the more access to women, money and fame. The fame gives them opportunity to reach a wider range of women, who will enjoy the rewards that the fame and money can buy. Therefore, they are seen as just being a man because this is the acceptable behavior of a man.
A women on the other hand, cannot demonstrate the same behavior because she is then viewed negatively, because this is the acceptable way behavior of a women. A women is usually expected to act as a lady at all times, which means always be respectable and adhere to the expectations that society has set fourth for you, no matter your status in the entertainment world. Media for men and women alike can be friend or foe, depending on what is being portrayed and who is narrating or orchestrating the unfolding events. Men are always going to be the universal figures in advertising and women will remain the underdogs in the advertising industry.
It’s going to be left up to the individual to set boundaries as to how far they will go or how much they are willing to endure, before they say enough is enough, and unite to change how all are portrayed in the eyes of the media.