PSYC 333 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Heterosexism, Sexual Objectification, Size Zero
7 May 2018
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Lecture!19!(March!20):!!
Watching!and!discussion!around!
Killing&us&softly&4&:&Advertising’s&Image&of&Women&&
!
!
The! professor! was! not! here! (but! the! TA! were! here),! so! we! watched! the! whole! movie!
(around!45!minutes)!and!then!discussed!them!in!class.!!
!
Here!are!some!notes!I!took!about!the!movie!but!it!is!not!complete,!and!the!movie!is!truly!
interesting!and!pleasant!to!see.!
!
Someone! asked! if! it! is! possible! that! some! questions! on! the! midterm! will! be! on! the!
movie/discussion,!and!the!TA!said!yes.!!
!
The!documentary!is!all!about!ads!and!especially!representation!of!women!in!ads!and!the!
consequences!of!these!kind!of!representations.!!
!
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Some!notes!on!the!movie:!!
Things' have' gotten' worst!in!ads,!even!if!there!are!countless!researchers!working!on!
this!subject.!!
Publicity'is'everywhere:!an!average!American!see!around!3000!ads!per!day,!and!spend!
2!years!watching!television!commercial.!!
Ads!are!more'sophisticated'and'more'influential!than!ever!before,!even!if!we!believe!
we! are! not! influenced.! Ads! are! quick,' cumulative' and' subconscious:! 8%! of! an! ad!is!
received!by!the!conscious!mind.!We!process!the!rest!of!the!ad!mostly!subconsciously.!!
Ads!produce!a!toxic!environment.!
!
Ads! are! selling' products' but' also' a' concept' of' love,' sexuality,' success' and'
normalcy:!it!tells'us'who'we'are'and'who'we'should'be.''
Ads!tell!women!that!the!more'important'is'how'they'look:!women!must!spend!a!lot!of!
time,!energy!and!money!to!achieve'a'look'that'cannot'be'achieved,!no!one!looked!like!
women!in!ads,!even!the!model!themselves,!because!of!computer!retouching.!To!produce!
an!image,!they!approximately!use!4!images!of!different!images!(one!for!the!face,!one!for!
the! hair,! one! for! the! body…)! Women! measure! themselves! to! an! image! that! does! not!
exist,! to! this! impossible! ideal.! It! is! even! worst! for! Black! women,! because! beauty! is!
presented! as! white! (or! light! skin! color).! Black! women! are! always! featured! on! jungle!
settings,!as!savages!and!exotics.!!
!
It!affects' women' self-esteem!and!affect!how' men' see' women' around!them!(studies!
show!that!men!that!have!been!show!ads!give!lower!rates!to!real!women).!
Women' bodies' are' turned' into' objects:' it'creates! a! climate! in! which! there! are!
widespread!violence!made!to!women,!In!effect,!dehumanizing!a!person!is!the!first!step!
toward!violence.!The!abuse!is!the!logical!result!of!this!kind!of!objectification.!!'
A!lot!of!women!are!dismembered'in'ads!:!they!are!not!only!turned!into!things,!they!are!
turned!into!part!of!things.!There!is!a!focus!on!breasts,!used!to!sell!absolutely!everything.!
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It! also! leads! to! more! interventions:! 91%! of! cosmetic! procedures! are! done! by! women,!
and!there!was!a!754%!increase!in!non!surgery!cosmetic!procedures!(like!botox)!and!a!
Document Summary
Killing us softly 4 : advertising"s image of women. The professor was not here (but the ta were here), so we watched the whole movie (around 45 minutes) and then discussed them in class. Here are some notes i took about the movie but it is not complete, and the movie is truly interesting and pleasant to see. Someone asked if it is possible that some questions on the midterm will be on the movie/discussion, and the ta said yes. The documentary is all about ads and especially representation of women in ads and the consequences of these kind of representations. Things have gotten worst in ads, even if there are countless researchers working on this subject. Publicity is everywhere: an average american see around 3000 ads per day, and spend. Ads are more sophisticated and more influential than ever before, even if we believe we are not influenced.
