Lesson 8, #1

In the seventh edition of “Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing.” Jean Kilbourne wrote an essay called, “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt, Advertizing and Violence.” She shows many different graphics for an essay. I found two graphics that bothered me the most. The first image is on page 421, on the bottom of the page. It was advertising men’s deodorant. The image shows a man leaning over a woman against a wall and both of them are laughing, and above the people the word ‘No’ is capitalized and shown as important. The message is conflicting about how if a woman sees the image she will understand a message that says when a woman says no, she means no, and when a man sees that image he will understand a message that says when a woman says no, she is just joking and really means yes. The second image is on page 426, and it is on the top of the page. It shows a woman kneeling down on the floor and licking it. The message that it portrays is that women should be completely obedient and submissive to men. That image is an advertisement for a drink that is popularly drunk by men, so far as I can tell. It shows that it’s fun and enjoyable for a man to control a woman, when it isn’t fun for her. I believe that men have started to notice a lot of advertising that contains secret messages about how women should be submissive, obedient, and a servant to men. These hidden messages can cause men to rape, sexually harass, and abuse women, all without thinking of the consequences and how the women feel.