Eliminating United States Softly

"Eliminating United States Softly" is a movie we viewed in class on women and guys and how they are depicted in the advertising world. Jean Kilbourne is the speaker; she began collecting advertisements in the 60's because of her participation with the females's movement, her interest in the media and through her experiences as a model. I in fact found this motion picture to be way more educational than I initially thought it would be; I believed it would be all about statics and less about the image of marketing.

What kind of marketing environment surrounds us? Here are some truths that might address that question. In the previous 40 years Kilbourne thinks that the marketing picture of females has become worse. Marketing in the United States had turned into a billion dollar industry. The average American will be exposed to over 3,000 daily and will invest about two years of their life watching commercials on tv. Ads are all over, they are at sporting arenas, billboards, bus stops, and elevators etc.

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, we can not escape them. Advertising develops an environment one that makes us think that we need to be healthy and gorgeous.

We understand that ads offer a lot more than items. They are attempting to offer us worths, images, love and success. They are informing us who we are now, and who we must be in the future, this is effective specifically if we are still finding our method life. There hardly ever is a picture of a beautiful lady that has actually not been photo shopped in one method or another.

Women of color are thought about stunning only if they satisfy the white ideal which is lighter skin tone, straight hair and Caucasian looking features. A great example of this is the singer Beyoncé. In all types of marketing women's bodies are turned into an "things". One area on the body that marketing business concentrate on is the breasts. There has actually been an increase in plastic surgeries over the last few years. Ninety-one percent of all cosmetic treatments are done on ladies.

The society that we live in loves to make fun of celebrities who gain a little weight, we are obsessed with thinness. Models are becoming thinner and thinner. The sad reality is that if they are not thin enough in a photo shoot then they are photo shopped to make them look thinner. Some of the ads we see today encourage unhealthy attitudes which can lead to eating disorders. Advertisers target women with weight loss products. It has been found that many of these products do not work, with 95% of dieters regaining the weight back. An interesting study was done among Fijian women soon after the television was introduced to their country. The study found that there was a rise in eating disorders. The U.S has the highest rate of teen pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases in the developed world. The sexualization of girls has become extreme; there are padded bras and thongs for pre-teen girls that are sold on department stores. Ads are catered for heterosexuals.

Gay men hardly exist outside the publications that target them, and the way they depict lesbians is if it comes straight from the porn world. Over the years men have been featured as being bigger, stronger and more powerful than women. Men really don’t live in a world where their bodies are scrutinized, criticized or judged in the same way as women. Boys are growing up in a world where mean are shown to be perpetrators of violence and encourages toughness and insensitivity. The most dangerous image that can be seen is the one that eroticizes violence against women. These images could feature women in bondage, being battered, or worst having been murdered. Advertising affects us all whether we realize it or not. It does not matter if we are rich or poor, young or old we are all slaves to it in one way or another.