Representation of Women in Advertising

The following discussion of resources concerning the representation of
women in advertising took place on WMST-L in October 2000.  For additional
WMST-L files available on the Web, see the WMST-L File Collection.

Hi, a student of mine is doing a photographic project involving the
representation of women in advertising (perhaps starting in 20's through
today). This is not my area of expertise, and I am wondering if any of you
can recommend some sources, or whether there is a place in the archives with
such information. Thank you for your responses!

Suzanne Baker
Anthropology
Creighton University
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"When we want to understand something, we cannot just stand outside and
observe it. We have to enter deeply into it and be one with it . . . "
                - Thich Nhat Hanh
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> Hi, a student of mine is doing a photographic project involving the
> representation of women in advertising (perhaps starting in 20's through


I usually use "Still Killing Us Softly" to introduce my students to the
ideas of looking at advertising, and although they find it dated, it's
still effective. It may be of some use to your student.

Christie Fox
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
Indiana University
clfox  @  indiana.edu

I haven't read it yet, but Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight
the Addictive Power of Advertising by Jean Kilbourne might be helpful.  And
Gloria Steinem's essay on the influence of advertising over content in
magazines might be good too.  It's in Moving Beyond Words.

peace,
simone

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The exemplary imagination works
by witness not by dogmatism,
by intuition rather than abstraction.
                    ~~~ Richard Kearney

Evil is a f***ing bore.
                    ~~~ Rob Brezsny

Poems are written on the back of time
                    ~~~ Mark Doty

Simone Roberts, Ph. D. Candidate, A.B.D.
Studies in Literature -- 19th and 20th Century
    Feminist Philosophy and Poetics
University of Texas-Dallas
Instructor Art Institute of Dallas
email: Douve1  @  aol.com
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You might try the videos "Killing Us Softly" and "Dream Worlds"

Barbara Harrington
psu12799  @  irn.pdx.edu

There is also a newer, additional tape with Glaria Steinem "Beyond
'Killing Us Softly'."

Kristin Pfefferkorn
Dept. of Philosophy
Connecticut College

The update to  "Still Killing Us softly," is called "Beyond Killing Us
Softly." Check out Cambridge Documentary Films at http://www.shore.net/~cdf

Valda Lewis
Editor, NWSAction

1318 Coolidge Ave
Wichita KS 67203

Tel: (316) 265 2024

As the producer-director's of "Still Killing Us Softly" we have a
suggestion for those people who find it dated. We have created what we
consider the next step "Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Strength to Resist."
We believe that the
analysis of women's representation, focus on solutions, analysis of race,
analysis of the impact of pornography on advertising, and analysis of new
media  in this documentary represent a breakthrough in thinking about women
in advertising.  "Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Strength to Resist"
features the ideas of women's studies professor and media analyst, Gail
Dines, the ideas of psychologists Carol Gilligan, Catherine Steiner Adair,
and Valerie Batts, the ideas of Gloria Steinem, third wave feminist and
cybercolumnist, Amy Richards and the ideas of young women and girls.  For
information on how to see the video, contact our website
www.cambridgedocumenaryfilms.org or call us at 617 484 3993.  Thank you.
Margaret Lazarus (producer-director)


Cambridge Documentary Films, Inc.
P.O. Box 390385 Cambridge, MA 02139-0004
ph (617)484-3993  fx (617)484-0754
www.shore.net/~cdf
cdf  @  shore.net

Hi, I recently showed Still killing us softly in class and now a couple of
students want to do a research project on the topic of images of women in
advertising.  they have located some journal articles, but wondered if
there was an organization or web site that would have more
information.  I'm familiar with FAIR and the company that produces the
video, but wondered if there might be more out there.  It is a bit out of
my area. Thanks,  Please reply privately and I'll compile the info and send
it to the list.

Pat
Pat Murphy, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Sociology
Director of Women's Studies
Sociology Dept
SUNY Geneseo
Geneseo, NY 14454
murphy  @  geneseo.edu
716-245-5324

Pat --

My Intro to Women's Studies class just completed a women's magazine analysis
project in which advertising was a key component.  One website we used was
about-face.org.  It includes a number of links to others sites that provide
useful and well documented information.  If your students can get their
hands on Jean Kilbourne's book, Deadly Persuasions, it can be a real help.
It is a powerful book devoted entirely to the influence of advertising on
our lives.  Someone on the listserv suggested it a couple of weeks ago.  My
only regret was not having it at the beginning of the assignment.  My
students enjoyed the project and gave wonderful oral presentations on their
findings.  I was extremely pleased with the results.  Some members of our WS
steering committee felt that my project was a little "light weight," but I
disagree.  Most students were very surprised with the overwhelming negative
images of women as portrayed by advertising.  I also used the video Still
Killing Us Softly in conjunction with the assignment.  Good luck to your
students. I think it will be a valuable experience.

Darcy Martin, M.A.
Women's Studies
East Tennessee State University
martindj  @  etsu.edu

Dear Linda Anderson,
Our latest documentary "Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Strength to Resist"
about the impact of the media on girls and women, features the ideas of an
eloquent 13 year old girl, as one of the elements of the film. Because of
this we have been able to engage and hold the interest of young girls in
the 10-12 age group. We have had many very successful screenings with 10-13
year olds and our experiences in these screenings will be used in the
development of a curriculum guide for educators, activists, and parents
that will be posted free on the web in a few months. The young woman in the
film and her friend are also writing for the curriculum.  There are parts
of this documentary that may not be interesting to 10-12 year olds,
particularly the work of some the academic contributors like Carol
Gilligan, Valerie Batts and Catherine Steiner-Adair, but these women are
actually talking about girls this age. Some young viewers do want to
understand more about what these researchers are saying and would be helped
by an educator working with them after the screening. We were the producers
and directors of "Still Killing Us Softly" (referenced in Pat Murphy's
original email) as well as the earlier "Killing Us Softly" (1979) and
consider "Beyond..." a major step forward. The new documentary is not
another slide lecture on film, but includes the ideas of many of the
leading authorities on media studies, psychology of girls and women and
eating disorders. There's more on our website www.shore.net/~cdf

Margaret Lazarus cdf  @  shore.net

At 08:28 AM 11/2/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Along these lines, I would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows of
>films on media images of girls/women that are appropriate viewing for girls
>10-12 years of age.
>
>Linda.Anderson  @  yale.edu