Download Rhetorical Analysis: Advertising Scars (revision)

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Eric Gethers
Kathy Rowley
English 201-12
October 24, 2012
Rhetorical Analysis: Advertising Scars (revision)
In today’s society sex is everywhere. It is seen on the television, billboards, magazine ads
and just about anywhere wondering eyes may venture. So the question is why is sex in
advertising so import to convey information about a product to the consumer? Readers must
believe that the appeal of a man or women’s body wearing little to nothing at all could sell a
bottle of cologne/perfume better than a talking reptile? Or is it the fact that society has become
so callous or immune to the constant flow of general advertising, that the advertisers need
provocative or nearly x-rated photos to get our attention? In the article “Two Ways a Woman
Can Get Hurt,” by author Jean Kilbourne, we look at views of modern advertising with the use of
women, men and children, as well as the repercussions it has upon the paid models and the
consumer.
Jean Kilbourne, an award winning author, is best known for her lectures about images in
media. She takes a personal stance against the misuse of certain images in advertising. She also
brings to our attention that while growing up, she was given opportunities others were not due to
her looks rather than her intellect. Kilbourne saw this as an injustice to her as well as all women
and began to focus her energy towards the advertisers that would commonly insult a woman’s
intelligence and self esteem. As a result, Kilbourne began collecting images and data of women
who were too often portrayed as being something that they were not, which left them as
vulnerable targets; eventually turning her findings it into a film titled, “Killing Us Softly:
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Advertisings Image of Women”(Kilbourne 458). The author went on to produce other films that
were frequently used to educate college students about the use of tobacco, alcohol and anorexia.
Along with the films, many articles and books have also been published that highlight concerns
expressed by Kilbourne, one in particular,” Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt”, is the subject
of this discussion.
In this particular article, the readers could easily get an immediate sense of Kilbourne’s
argument. As they flip through the pages of the article, you are visually treated to displays of
heavenly female bodies, all of them flawless, many fully undressed, and some in poses that
would make anyone blush. Other photos in the article are slightly more disturbing, displaying
what could be considered rape, rough fore-play, submissive and dominant poses, as well as
women being physically abused and even murdered and it does not stop there. The use of male
models with their rock hard abs, square chin, greased hair and fake smile have also become the
sought after by advertisers. How as a society could it possibly get any worse? What other tricks
do advertisers have up their sleeves to fuel a desire to get consumers to go out and buy cologne,
alcohol or underwear?
In years past, the use of children has always had its place in the Sears/Roebuck back to
school catalog. But in this article Kilbourne exposes the use of children, in their underwear, as a
means to sell a product? It seems as though advertisers have sunk to a new low by exploiting
young innocent children all in the name of a company’s bottom line.
Kilbourne’s position in this article has been criticized for being too selective in regards to
image choices and her analysis. Throughout the article she will directly address those advertisers
who have intentionally exploited the models in the ads. For example, she claims that an ad for,
“Bitch skateboards,” has content that is similar to another ad that show a woman wrapped in
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plastic with a man holding a gun to her head. If this is not shocking enough, the ad is animated to
“clearly attract young people.”(Kilbourne 465) claims Kilbourne.These advertisers believe that
Kilbourne has read too much into the ads and has become too serious about its intent. Kilbourne
responds by saying “advertising makes dangerous behavior seem normal and even appealing”
(Kilbourne 461) and if sex is normal and appealing then advertisers will use it.
Sex in advertising is mostly about being dominated over something or someone. The idea
that buying certain cologne or drinking a certain beverage will bag you a desirable man or
woman is almost always false and misleading. But there is always the what if factor! What if the
product really works and the consumer does in fact meet the person of their dreams just like the
ad claims? If there is a small possibility that one can find true love from a product, and this love
likes it rough and enjoys being thrown against a wall, well then people are going to give it a shot
and the advertisement worked. Does exploiting people in advertising really work for product
sales, and what other issues are associated with what is seen in advertisements?
Kilbourne believes that sex in advertising is pornographic because “it dehumanizes and
objectifies people, especially women, and because it fetishizes products, imbues them with an
erotic charge-which dooms us to disappointment since products never can fulfill our sexual
desires” (Kilbourne 459). She goes on to discuss how techniques and bodily displays within
advertising such as bondage, sadomasochism, and the exploitation of children have all been
pulled from the porno industry. She finds it unnecessary to see a man licking a woman’s leather
boot, or a naked woman on the side of a bus with her private parts covered in watches in order to
sell products.
The real concern Kilbourne claims is that many advertisements glorify rape and violence,
and society has allowed this to happen. The author tells of an ad used to sell women’s jeans in
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Czechoslovakia. This shot shows three men viciously attacking a woman and trying to rip off her
jeans. The realization in the ad is that the women is not the victim, the jeans are. Ads have
encouraged men to be forceful and dominant to not only strange women but to those women they
may know and love; a behavior that possibly wouldn’t exist if not displayed in advertising.
Kilbournes purpose within the article is to draw attention to photos and images in
advertising that focuses on the portrayed mistreatment of the model/actors. Kilbounrne claims
that ads displaying men having power over women only solidifies thoughts in weak minded
individuals to go out and become an abusive womanizer. She also brings some statistics to the
article which confirms some of her fears, for example: “between one-third and three-quarters of
all sexual assault cases involve alcohol consumption” and “battery is the single greatest cause of
injury to women in America,” and advertising glorifies these examples (Kilbourne 463). Other
statistics Kilbourne gives us are the fact that three out of four raped or assaulted women were at
the hands of someone they knew (Kilbourne 468). Either way men are under the impression that
women must submit to their dominance or they will be taken by force. Somewhere along the
lines society has failed to fully educate men or failed to protect those most vulnerable, women
and children.
As Kilbourne claims, we can’t blame advertising for the root cause of violence against
people, just as advertising can’t be blamed for obesity or alcoholism. There are many factors that
contribute to the problems stated in this article. Kilbourne shows the reader that advertisements,
which point out weaknesses in society, are something that should be avoided to protect the
innocent from becoming victims. Kilbourne ends the article by stating “advertising creates a
climate in which certain attitudes and values flourish” (Kilbourne 462) and that no matter what
the abusive womanizer claims, the woman never asked for it.
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Work Cited
Kilbourne, J. From Inquiry To Academic Writing: A Text And Reader. 2nd ed. Boston/New York:
Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008. Print. Reprinted by permission. “Two Ways a Woman Can
Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence. Previously published as, Deadly Persuasion: Why
Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising (1999). The Free Press,
a division of Simon &Schuster Adult Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Greene, Stuart and April Lidinsky. From Inquiry To Academic Writing: A Text And Reader. 2nd
ed. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2008. Print.