Jean Kilbourne Essay

Jean Kilbourne is an author, speaker and a filmmaker who is recognized for her groundbreaking involvement with reviewing advertisements of women. In a recent, film she addressed the social and cultural expectation of women and beauty in advertisements. She talked about the criticism, dehumanization, and judgment women have faced for centuries. Towards the conclusion of the film she offered strategies to benefit the issue. Kilbourne expressed that, it is important to be involved, to help change the attitude about women within our culture. During her closing remarks Jean also mentioned that “change will depend on an aware, active, educated public that thinks of itself primarily as citizens rather than primarily as consumers” (Kilbourne, 2015).
One may ask what does it mean to think of yourself primarily as a citizen, as opposed to a consumer.
First and foremost, being a citizen is greater than oneself. Being a citizen is not only about doing something, it is about being something. To consider yourself as a citizen, means that you are a member of a community. As a citizen, you have the right to work, vote and even pay taxes. As citizens there are numerous ways for us to get involved and participate within our communities. We do not have to participate only with our money but, with our service as well. To think of yourself as a citizen means being a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. As, Jean Kilbourne states we must change our attitudes. To do this we must first be the change we want to see. To consider yourself primarily as a citizen, you are choosing to engage and make a difference in creating a vigorous and vibrant community. In my opinion, I think that as a citizen you are contributing to society.
In addition, being a consumer is buying or purchasing goods for personal use. I think that being a consumer is more about one’s self interest. Whereas being a citizen is thinking and doing what is best for the community. I consider consumers to be individuals take away from society rather than contributing to it. To be primarily a citizen rather than a consumer, I think that an individual must be actively involved within their community. Regarding to Jeans’ closing remarks, I believe that we must learn not to filter out the underlying messages being portrayed in the advertainments of women. Instead we must act as citizen, and recognize the negative effects that these advertisements have on women and that it is a universal issue.
Furthermore, I do not think individuals can be both a citizen and a consumer.
For instance, if someone buys a bra from an advertisement degrading women’s’ breast, I would consider them to be a consumer. They bought the bra for their personal use, despite that there is a negative message being portrayed in the advertisement. The consumer either does not realize that there is an issue with the advisement, or they block the negative message out. However, if an individual is an active and aware citizen, I think that they would not buy the product. A citizen would not purchase the bra, due to them realizing the dehumanizing message of women being depicted. I also do not think that you can be both a citizen and a consumer because to me being a citizen is acting based on what is right overall and not only thinking about
yourself.
Additionally, Shelia Jeffreys the author of Beauty and Misogyny wrote about the history of women and beauty practices. Jefferys and Kilbourne’s speech had very overlapping arguments. Both the reading and the film expressed similar ideas and concepts and connected very well. In the YouTube video Jean Kilbourne expresses that advertisements depict women on “ideal beauty.” The “ideal beauty” that she spoke of is what women are supposed to look like, what it means to be beautiful and what it takes to be beautiful. Most of the advertisements of women are photoshopped and based on flawlessness. These ad’s cause women to have low self-esteem because it is impossible to look “ideally beautifully.” The images are not real, no one looks like the women in advertisements.
Similarly, in Beauty and Misogyny, it states that “beauty is a cultural practice and one that is dangerous to women” (Jefferys, 2015).
I believe that this is a very true statement because in our culture no part of the women body is left unchanged. Kilbourne said that 91 percent of surgery is performed on women. Many women arch their eyebrows, dye their hair, wear false lashes, mascara, and wear eyeshadow. I think the reason for these beauty practices goes back to the advisements that Jean Kilbourne speaks of. These advisements give off the message that women are supposed to be, wrinkle free, sexy, and appealing for men. As a retaliation woman participate in these beauty trends, some which are dangerous and
extreme. Likewise, in Jeffery’s text and Kilbourne speech they both mentioned women being sexually objectified and seen as objects. Jeffery describes the term as “a person is sexually objectified when her sexual parts or sexual functions are separated out from the rest of her personality and reduced to the status of mere instruments or else regarding as if they were capable of representing her” (Jefferys, 2015). While Kilbourne describes women’s, bodies being torn apart and into objects or only seeing certain parts of a woman’s body. For example, in the video there was an advertisement of a woman who was turned into a bottle of Michelob. She also stated that objectification is not limited to ad’s but, it also happens in video games and as well pornography. Through sexually objectification the messages clearly being portrayed is that women are not fully humans, and that they are in fact objects.
Additionally, both authors also had similar viewpoints on femininity and masculinity being socially set to one gender. During Kilbourne’s speech she noted that men are usually portrayed as powerful, and that they should not have a feminine side. Men are also usually depicted as superior to women, while women are placed in very vulnerable positions and seen as a victim. I personally liked how Kilbourne pointed out that society needs both men and women who are compassionate yet assertive. Men and women should have both masculine and feminine qualities to make a well-rounded individual. In the same manner, Jefferys noted that society sees femininity and masculinity being a social construct rather than a strength for cultures. I can concur with that statement because, rather than one construct being labeled to one gender, it should be interchangeable between both female and males. All things considered, I think that being a citizen is very important. Individuals should be active within their community and recognize issues within it. They should not be afraid to voice their opinions and find ways to resolve issues when they notice them. Consumers should learn to think about how their decisions affect their communities rather than for self-fulfillment, to transform themselves into citizens. An individual cannot be a citizen as well as a consumer, they should choose. Clearly in my opinion, being a citizen is better. I also think that becoming a citizen rather than a consumer will help individuals become more aware of the issues and problems in their surrounding areas. Overall, Jane Kilbourne and Shelia Jeffreys