RA#3

Title: “‘Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt’: Advertising and Violence”

Author: Jean Kilbourne

Date: 3 November 2012

Topic: Effect of advertisement on women

Exigence: Because of typical advertisement, women are mistreated and neglected.

Intended Audience: General Public

Purpose: To inform readers of the negative impacts of advertising on women.

Claim: Advertisement’s degrading display of women unjustly represents women in society.

 

Ethos: In her article, “‘Two Ways a Woman can Get hurt’: Advertising and Violence,” author Jean Kilbourne clarifies the impact that advertisement has on women. The article contains several images of provocative advertisement, most of which express sexual relations between men and women. Throughout most of the article, the author explains how this sexual advertisement affects popular culture. Jean Kilbourne claimed that, through regular advertising, popular culture influences a faulty relationship between men and women: “The popular culture…idealizes a template for relationships between men and women that is a recipe for diasaster…”(578). Thus, advertisement may ordinarily impact relationships, and correspondingly, the men and women in those relationships. Kilbourne proceeds to elaborate on advertisement’s influence on relationships: “Indeed the very worst kind of man for a woman to be in an intimate relationship with, often a truly dangerous man, is the one considered most sexy and desirable in the popular culture” (578). Kilbourne’s statement suggests that advertisement encourages faulty relationships between men and women.

 

Pathos: The author declares that advertisement mistreats women. Kilbourne noted, “Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women…”(575). From Kilbourne’s words, because advertisement dehumanizes and objectifies people, sexual advertising may cause a woman to feel more like an object than a real human being. In everyday occurences, women may view advertising that exploits certain characterisitics, and because that advertisement comprises much of culture, women may feel they need to submit to the image displayed in advertisement. Consequently, women who identify themselves as not up to standard to the advertised image may feel embarrassed.

            Moreover, Jean Kilbourne illustrates how advertisement affects a woman’s basic security. Thourghout her article, Kilbourne exemplified several ways in which advertisement promotes a man’s sexual yet dangerous focus on women. Because potentially dangerous men are influenced to approach women with sexual intentions, Kilbourne stated that women must remain cautios in public settings: “We don’t list our ful names in the phne directory or on our mailboxes, we try not to be alone after dark, we carry our keys in our hands when we approach our cars, we always look in the back seat before we get in, we are wary of elevators and doorways and bushes, we carry pepper sprays, whistles, Mace” (588).Kilbourne’s statements reveals that, partly because of sexual advertisement, women may ordinarily have fear in commonplace occurences.

 

Logos: By displaying an excerpt from alcohol-related ad, Kilbourne demonstrated how advertisement affects society. Kilbourne noted, “A chilling newspaper ad for a bar in Georgetown features a closeup of a cocktail and the headline, ‘If your date won’t listen to reason, try a Velvet Hammer’” (579). This advertisement persuades men to seduce women through alcohol consumtion, which supports Kilbourne’s views on how women are unjustly treated from advertisement. Kilbourne then revealed another ad that aimed to mistreat women; Kilbourne said, “In 1997 a company called Senate distributed clothing with inside labels that included, in addition to the usual cleaning instuctions, the line ‘Destroy all girls,’ A Senate staffer explained that he thought it was ‘kind of cool’”(596). The advertisement’s literal declaration to hurt women may very well affect women in society.