Advertising of Women

Do You Know What it Feels Like for a Girl?

When I look at magazines and watch TV I feel as if negative images of women are everywhere. It is hard for me as a women not to feel like I have to look like a super model on the Victoria Secret Fashion show or someone won’t love me.

In the past couple months I have decided to take a more "feminist" approach in my life and educate the girls I coach basketball too as well as my little sister on what it is to be beautiful. Reading the magazine“BITCH” has for sure made a positive impact on how I view myself as a woman. I would recommend anyone to read this magazine, NOT just women. 

Another eye opening experience was watching Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly-Advertising Images of Women. These short films help society understand that advertising has destroyed the view of what a woman should really look like and be like. Typically it is a tall, size zero, blonde, who is young, and completely stunning. This look is attainable only by 1% of the population so why is it that so many women strive to look like this? 

I have conversations with my 16-year-old sister on a regular basis about how beautiful she is. Her comments are generic and appalling:

-       I am not as skinny as some girls

-       I am not as pretty

-       I need to wear more of these kind of clothes

-       I need to wear more makeup

She has only just realized lately that she is a beautiful person. The effects that these images have on women though have been extremely harmful. I, like most women, have battled with how I look and I am only now somewhat confident in my own skin. As Christina Aguilera would say, “You are Beautiful in Every Single Way.”