The two articles that I chose to read were "Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertising and Violence by Jean Kilborne and "Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity" by Jackson Katz. Both of these articles discussed how sex, masculinity, superiority, and advertisement play a role on the males and females of today's society. Both authors do a great job of supporting their initial statements by backing them up with concrete facts and visuals. But it seems that advertising creates specific images for people, boosting the status of men and lowering that of women.
"Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertising and Violence mainly focuses on .
how magazine ads are sending out mixed symbols out to its viewer's on issues such as sex, rape, alcohol, etc. Jean Kilborne, winner of several award-winning documentaries, argues that "ads affect us in far more profound and potentially damaging ways" (445). Take the way that these ads are portraying the human body, "especially women's bodies - as objects conditions us to seeing each other in dehumanizing ways, thus "normalizing" attitudes that can lead to sexual aggression" (444). .
Take sex for example. Sex in ads is used because it is known to dehumanize and at the same time objectify people. But at the same time, sex attracts the male's attention and it catches the viewer's eye, making it seem like if he/she uses their product, he/she will be able to be that male/female in the ad. People have taken it as far as to use bondage in their ads to sell items ranging from simple neckties to lady's wristwatches. The women in these ads are shown tied up as if they were just violated by a male figure. This has become popular because the image of a tied up woman is supposedly somewhat appealing to the male's eye because it reminds them of sex.
While on the issue of sex, it was rare that one would see the naked body of a male in any of these ads the way that women's bodies were shown.