Since the early 1980’s Dr. Jean Kilbourne has been conducting research on how advertisers portray women in the United States. Please review the following video trailer which provides a small portion of one of her lectures on this topic.
Jean Kilbourne: Killing Us Softly-4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWKXit_3rpQ&feature=iv&src_vid=PTlmho_RovY&annotation_id=annotation_493134379 (Links to an external site.)
The video link posted in our Discussion Board is just a trailer. The extended documentary is approximately 45 minutes. You are welcome to watch the full documentary but I believe that the trailer will provide enough information for students to think about their own views on advertising and discuss your own thoughts on advertising in our culture. You are not required to answer all of the questions that I’ve posted, these are just some ideas to start a conversation.
After reviewing the trailer please post your thoughts on how advertisers and the media portray gender roles in our society. For example, Dr. Kilbourne focuses on the objectification of women in the media. Men are also portrayed in a specific way in our culture. How do you think these images may affect individuals? Some images may be positive and others may be negative. What is your opinion on marketing and influence in our culture? Do you believe that marketing helps to shape our culture or is marketing a reflection of the existing culture? Please note that this video clip was filmed in 2012. Do you believe that these images are changing in our current culture? Feel free to expand your thoughts beyond advertising and also consider how people in our culture are depicted in movies, TV shows, and books.
Sample Solution
