Killing Us Softly 3

     In the video, Killing Us Softly 3, Jean Kilbourne details many ways that advertising is harmful to women. Advertising subjugates women in a variety of ways. In ads you'll often see them portrayed as little more than sexual objects, infantilized, passive, silenced, etc. Very rarely will you see an ad portraying a woman as active and powerful. Ads also portray an unrealistic standard of how women should look. Studies show that only 5% of women have the same body type as the models seen in ads. This puts a lot of pressure on women to obtain an ideal beauty defined by society that is clearly unattainable. Below I have an ad for "Baby Lips" by Maybelline.

     In this ad you see the overarching tones of the infantilization of women in today's advertising. The product is aptly titled "Baby Lips." While some may argue that it's just promoting soft lips, it's implying that your body has to be more youthful than your age to be appealing. The product packaging also does not make it seem to be a serious adult product. This is pandemic in the advertising industry today where we are making grown women appear more youthful and innocent, while making younger girls seem more mature and alluring, blurring the lines of what is good and decent. This has a very negative impact on women. Men, seeing these images propagated by mass media, are also affected. These images can warp people's views of women and the role they play in society. We need to start presenting women as equals in society, and advertising it, if we hope to create a future where everyone is equal and valued for their own worth.