On March 11, Jean Killbourne, internationally renowned public speaker, writer, filmmaker and activist discussed the impact of advertisement and the sometimes subconscious influence that it has on society’s interpretation of women.
For Killbourne, the conversation about advertisement negativity and its ties to the degradation of a woman’s ability to exist is one that needs to be had more often. Killbourne has advocated for the education and implementation of better public health, with which she considers this subject to be related, since the 1960s. Having battled sexism as well as a general passivity for the subject by those who insist that ads hold no power over them, Killbourne’s passion for media literacy has become one that millions have rallied behind.
During this event, Killbourne discussed how women are taught very early on to embrace the heavy and toxic ideals of conformity as it pertains to women. “Failure is inevitable,” she shared. “Because the ideal is based on absolute flawlessness.” She spoke about how women tend to feel ashamed when they fail to measure up to the mainstream expectations of their bodies. The widely held idea that women, in comparison to their male counterparts, have a specific, separate and incapable-to-achieve portion to their identities is something that Killbourne refused to accept.
Killbourne mentioned the importance of questioning one’s definition of progress. She highlighted ads where the skin tone of models had been lightened– even, in one instance, where American singer Beyoncé had experienced the lightening of her skin in an ad. “Is it really progress,” she asked, “to see a darker-skinned black woman posed in a trivializing sort of ridiculous way with her face hidden?” Killbourne then considered the American ideal of beauty and how it often involves thin, white, blonde women. “Ads sell a lot more than products,” she said. “To a great extent, they tell us who we are and who we should be.”
Her final remark was a call to action. “What’s most important is to get involved in whatever way moves us,” she shared. “To change not just the ads, but the attitudes that run so deep in the culture and that affect each one of us so deeply, whether we’re conscious of it or not.”
