The Dangers that Confront Women Today

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The Dangers that Confront Women Today
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The Media Monotony

• In 1983, the media was dominated by 50 companies.
  Today, the media is controlled by only five.
• Time Warner
• Viacom
• Disney
• Bertelsmann
• News Corporation

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Overview

• Are you in danger?
• What is the danger?
• How is it affecting us?
• What can we do about it?

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Litmus Test
Think about a woman you admire. What qualities do
you admire about her? What does the media (TV,
movies, billboards, etc.) say women should be
like? What kind of women are idealized by pop
culture? Are your answers to the two questions
similar or different?
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DANGER!

• Your value system is being reshaped without you
  knowing it!
• How?

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Types of Media
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Mass Media

• In 1979, the average American was bombarded by
  500 ads/day. Killing Us Softly
• In 1999, that number increased to 3000 ads/day.
  Killing Us Softly 3
• The average American will spend 3 years of his
  life watching TV commercials. Killing Us Softly
  3

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Mass Media

• Media is everywhere
• Effects inescapable

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Authorities

• Mary Pipher, Ph.D.
• Clinical psychologist
• Author of Reviving Ophelia and Hunger Pains
• Jean Kilbourne
• www.JeanKilbourne.com
• Killing Us Softly lecture series
• Beyond Killing Us Softly
• About-Face
• San Francisco-based non-profit organization that
  promotes positive self-esteem among women, media
  literacy, and activism
• www.about-face.org
• ANRED Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating
  Disorders, Inc.
• www.anred.com

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Sell Sell Sell

• All forms of media are advertisements.
• Movies and TV shows sell lifestyles and
  behaviors.

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Advertisements Sell

• More than just products

• Appearance
• Goals
• Concepts of who we are and who we should be

• Popularity
• Sexuality
• Love
• Romance
• Normalcy
• - Killing Us Softly

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Focus on Appearance

• Hair
• Make-up
• Exercise
• Dieting
• Clothes
• Celebrities fashion trends
• Music?

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Goal Absolute Flawlessness
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Creation of Ideals

• Make-up
• Airbrushing
• Computer Retouching
• Computerized Models

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The Woman that Does Not Exist

• The perfect female is not human Her only
  attribute is attractiveness, every other
  characteristic would detract and has therefore
  been erased. Women are held to this standard and
  are bombarded with shaming messages that remind
  them that they will not succeed, be loved, secure
  or happy unless they conform to the shell
  identity, which is flawless appearance. The
  response evoked is guilt, fear and shame.
• - http//about-face.org/goo/newten/4/five.shtml

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Tall Skinny Like Barbie
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Mission Impossible
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Mission Impossible

• Body type portrayed in advertising as ideal
  possessed naturally by only 5 of American
  females
• The average model weighs 23 less than the
  average woman
• 80 of women feel physically inadequate.
  Beyond Killing Us Softly

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Advertisers

• Youre ugly. Youre disgusting. Buy
  something. - Still Killing Us Softly
• Make profit by dehumanizing their consumers
• Women must disguise themselves with products
  because we will not do the way we are. - Still
  Killing Us Softly

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The Body, Our Best Asset Flaunting Sexuality

• Media creates sexual images of teenage
  celebrities that girls want to mimic.
• Girls want to flaunt their sexuality even though
  they do not understand it.

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A Womans Worth

• Ads never let us forget that a womans worth is
  determined by her appeal to men. Nothing else
  about her matters, not her thoughts, feelings, or
  experiences. She is an object to be judged,
  evaluated and deemed desirable enough by the
  observer. Her only power lies in controlling and
  manipulating her appearance, and even in that
  she is set up to fall short of the perfect
  ideal.
• - http//about-face.org/goo/newten/4/nine.shtml

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Dismemberment

• Every single part has to be examined and changed.
• Constant dissatisfaction

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Physical Consequences Disconnection with Our Own
Bodies

• Fad Diets
• Eating Disorders
• Cosmetic Surgery

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Fad Diets

• Dont work
• Initial loss of water and lean muscle
• Cant keep weight off
• Chance of relapse 90-98

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Eating Disorders

• Anorexia
• Self-starvation
• Can be fatal
• Bulimia
• 1 out of 4 college-aged women
• Binging and purging
• Uncontrolled eating of up to 10,000 calories in
  one sitting
• Vomiting or laxatives

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Eating Disorders

• Fiji
• No TV. No eating disorders and confident,
  full-figured women
• After introduction of TV and videos, eating
  disorders and insecurity
• You or someone you know
• Get help. Tell someone you trust.
• Tang Center http//uhs.berkeley.edu

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Cosmetic Surgery

• Extreme measures taken to achieve the ideal look

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Peggy 48 year-old detective

• Brow Lift
• Face Lift
• Neck Lift
• Fat Injections
• Chin Implant
• Jowl Implant
• Porcelain Veneers
• LASIK Eye Surgery

• http//www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200311/tows_pa
  st_20031113.jhtml
• http//abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover

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Social Consequence Disconnection with Other Women

• Involuntary beauty contest
• Jealousy
• Selfishness
• Isolation
• Discrimination against the overweight, especially
  women

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Psychological Consequence Disconnection with
Reality

• Achieving the ideal and appealing to men do not
  lead to happiness as media promises.
• Life doesnt work this way.

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Mary-Kate and Ashley
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Christina Aguilera
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Britney Spears
Britney
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• Lyrics Lucky
• by Britney Spears
• This is a story about a girl named Lucky
  Early morning, she wakes up Knock, knock,
  knock on the door It's time for makeup, perfect
  smile It's you they're all waiting for They go
  "Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood girl?" And
  they say

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ChorusShe's so lucky, she's a star But she
cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking If
there's nothing missing in my life Then why do
these tears come at night Lost in an image, in
a dream But there's no one there to wake her up
And the world is spinning, and she keeps on
winning But tell me what happens when it stops?
They go "Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood
girl?"
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So Be a Slob?

• Wearing make-up and grooming oneself are not bad
  things.
• The message that women need products and a
  certain look to feel complete and confident is
  harmful.

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Solutions

• Look at real women in the streets, all around,
  where there is diversity and not as much make-up.
• Looking at reality is a great antidote.
• Strong community of women
• Relationships of selflessness

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Solutions

• Examine the media critically.
• Be aware of what you take in.
• Dont just absorb.
• Who decides what is beautiful, what is
  acceptable?
• The media conglomerates?
• We CAN control the influence of media on our
  lives.

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Thank you for coming!

• Questions? E-mail
• Carol
• mjkim27_at_berkeley.edu