1. Beauty and the Beast of Advertising
Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.
(jkilbourne@aol.com) is internationally
recognized for her pioneering work on
alcohol and tobacco advertising and the
image of women in advertising. Her
films, slide lectures and television
appearances have been seen by millions
of people throughout the world. She
was named by The New York Times
Magazine as one of the three most
popular speakers on college campuses
Jen today. Her book, Can’t Buy My Love:
How Advertising Changes the Way We
Think and Feel, won the Distinguished
Publication Award from the Association
for Women in Psychology in 2000. She
is also known for her award-winning
documentaries Killing Us Softly, Slim
Hopes, and Calling the Shots.
2. “Everyone has seen blatantly offensive
advertisements that portray women as
sexual toys or victims of violence. Such
irresponsible advertising has rightly
touched off cries of protest and
organized action. The following are some
of the more subtle ways advertising
reinforces cultural values of
subservience, domination and inequality
between the sexes.”
--Jean Kilbourne“
3. Dismemberment
Women’s bodies are often
portrayed and treated as
separate parts, perpetuating
the concept that
a woman’s body is not
connected to her mind and
emotions. The hidden
message: If a woman has
great lets, who cares who she
is?t
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10. Superiority
Three common tactics used
to establish superiority are
size, attention and position.
Notice how the girl is behind
the boy with her hand on his
shoulder, apparently vying
for his attention. He doesn’t
seem to notice her.
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16. Canting
People in control of
their lives stand upright,
alert and ready to meet
the world. In contrast,
the bending of body
parts conveys
unpreparedness,
submissiveness and
appeasement.
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21. Clowning
Shown alone in ads,
men are often portrayed
as powerful and serious.
By contrast women are
pictured as playful
clowns, Perpetuating
the attitude that women
are childish and cannot
be taken seriously.
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26. Dominance/Violence
The tragic abuse-affection cycle
that many women are trapped
in is too often glorified in
advertising. In this Andrew
Marc ad, notice the expression
of anger on the face of the man
and the fear and anguish on that
of the woman, though they are
in an embrace. He grabs her
jacket as she holds his arm,
almost affectionately.
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29. Can you identify the stereotype,
positive or negative,
reinforcing or contradicting,
that are being perpetuated by
the following images of men
and women in ads?
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41. What are some ways
that gender
representations
in advertising
can be positive?
