Killing Us Sofly
Is a documentary by Jean Killbourne about advertisements and
the way it reflects on women body. Many years ago Jean was an advertiser for a
birth control called Ovulen-21 it has a picture of a women smiling and boxes
with pictures of chores women have to do every day of the week. Jean started
collecting adds from perfume, clothing. Jewelry companies and noticed that
there was something constantly showing and it was not right. There were skinny,
perfect face models, ideal images on how women have to be in order to be
beautiful. That motivated her to start her series “Killing us Softly 3” in
1987. Jean explains that advertisement are influencing women, teenagers even
young girls to have a perfect body such as being really thin and not have no
pimples, no imperfections on their face, no wrinkles, stretch lines, if a women
fails they have to feel ashamed and consider themselves not beautiful. That’s
why anorexia and bulimia exist on women especially teenagers.
Advertisements not only sell the products but also sell
values, images, concepts of love, normality and who women are and what women
should says Jean. In a advertisement on a magazine shows a women with no
imperfections but that’s not reality, is customized with the help of computers
retouching program getting rid of the imperfections. Soon the companies won’t
need models because it also creates a perfect face getting parts from different
women faces and putting them together. Women are judged of their body more than
men, in order to be perfect you need to have perfect breast no fat and have a
face like a young girl. Advertisements also show racism with black women that
are constantly dressed as animal prints. And also feminist because women are
commonly to have their hands over their mouth expressing that woman have no
say. Advertisements influence society in a lot of ways and effects woman self
esteem.
Tony Porter- A Call to Men
Anthony Porter was raised in Harlem,
Bronx and was taught from his father that he had to be a man that had to always
be strong, dominated, and courageous and never have NO pain, especially NO
FEAR!, says tony. Men never cry, are superior and women are inferior, women
always have to obey what the men say. This is all in the socialization of men
called the “Man box”. Tony has a family of two kids and a wife. Tony explained
when his daughter would go crying to him was normal but when his son came to
him crying, tony would get mad and tell him go to his room and come out when he
becomes a “men”. Later he would regret the way he talked to him and remembered
of his father.
Men are known to be strong, not shed
a tear not once because then he would jeopardized his masculinity. When tony
was 12 he had a friend named Johnny a cool doing drugs 16 year old boy. Jhonny
offered tony to have sex with a 16 year old girl that he raped a few minutes
earlier. Men had a disgusting mentality about women and it was all because of
that “Men box”. Tony lied he had sex with the girl who now is ill. Since that
day he valued himself and didn’t care much about the “Men box”. All men when
they feel superior of women they turn violent, rape, harass and mistreat women.
Those are the #1 health concern for women. Tony is encouraging men, fathers to
teach the younger boy that is okay to cry, show emotion, have girls as friends.
To know women and men are equal.
Relating both videos to chapter 5
Both videos
relate to chapter 5 because it talks about social life affects human beings.
There on section in chapter five that talks about the gender socialization.
Gender socialization is females and males that learn their traits and behaviors
and the role they suppose to have depending on their gender. In the chapter
says the “socialization is usually what “should” be done, not what “must” be
done.” Just like how the videos shows like tony was mentioning in “ A call to
men video men think they “have” to be strong with no emotion and dominant, and
in the video ”killing us softly” women think they “have’ to be think and
perfect in order to be beautiful and get attention from men, that’s what
society shows and expresses affecting humans self-esteem and mentality.
The role of
a men is usually to be aggressive, loud, tough and a girl quite, passive,
sensitive and nonathletic. If the gender were to b opposite of what they are
suppose to be they were called disturbing names such as for girl a “tomboy” and
guys a “sissies”. Guys were more judged about their attitude more than girls,
but girls are judged more by their body figure. Everywhere you go there will
always be rules and punishing every transgression with any kind of action
especially calling names.
The toys that represent the ways that
boy and girls are socialized. This dolls show how a biy and a girl could play together and play the rold of men and women. how "reality" suppose to be.
