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Killing Us Softly 4 Discussion Guide PDF
Killing Us Softly 4 Discussion Guide PDF
FOUNDATION
STUDY GUIDE
Killing Us Softly 4
Advertisings Image of Women
CONTENTS
Note to Educators 3
Program Overview 3
Key Points 5
Assignments 11
Semester-Long Project 14
For additional assignments, please download the Killing Us Softly 3 study guide:
http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/206/studyguide_206.pdf
For handouts associated with the Killing Us Softly 3 study guide, also download:
http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/206/studyguidehandout_206.pdf
This study guide is designed to help you and your students engage and manage the information
presented in this video. Given that it can be difficult to teach visual content and difficult for students to
recall detailed information from videos after viewing them the intention here is to give you a tool to
help your students slow down and deepen their thinking about the specific issues this video addresses.
With this in mind, weve structured the guide to help you stay close to the videos main line of argument
as it unfolds:
Key Points provide a concise and comprehensive summary of the video. They are designed to make it
easier for you and your students to recall the details of the video during class discussions, and as a
reference point for students as they work on assignments.
Questions for Discussion & Writing encourage students to reflect critically on the video during class
discussions, and guide their written reactions before and after these discussions. These questions can
therefore be used in different ways: as guideposts for class discussion, as a framework for smaller group
discussion and presentations, or as self-standing, in-class writing assignments (i.e. as prompts for free-
writing or in-class reaction papers in which students are asked to write spontaneously and informally
while the video is fresh in their mind).
Assignments encourage students to engage the video in more depth by conducting research, working
on individual and group projects, putting together presentations, and composing formal essays. These
assignments are designed to challenge students to show command of the material presented in the video,
to think critically and independently about this material from a number of different perspectives, and to
develop and defend their own point of view on the issues at stake.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
In this newest update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, the first in more than a decade, Jean
Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity.
The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements to lay bare a stunning pattern of
damaging gender stereotypes images and messages that too often reinforce unrealistic, and unhealthy,
perceptions of beauty, perfection, and sexuality. Killing Us Softly 4 challenges students to take
advertising seriously, and to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating
disorders, and gender violence.
To download a folder of JPEG images used in Killing Us Softly 4, click the following link:
http://mefwordpress.s3.amazonaws.com/KUS4_Images.zip
1. Do you watch television, listen to the radio or read magazines? If so, why, when, and how often?
Which television shows do you watch? Which radio stations do you listen to? Which magazines
do you read?
2. How many advertisements do you think you see and hear every day? Where do you see and hear
advertisements? Think of as many places as possible. What makes an advertisement stay in your
memory? Images? Music? Words? Phrases?
3. What personal care and beauty products do you use on a regular basis? What other products do
you use? What brand names are you wearing, carrying, or using right now? What other brand
names do you have at home? How do you feel when you use these products? Can you feel this
way without these products? Would using different brands of the same beauty products feel
different to you? Why or why not?
4. Do you think advertising influences the kinds of products you buy? If yes, how? If no, explain
why you think youre able to resist it.
5. What is feminism? What are some common stereotypes about feminists and feminism? Where
do you think these stereotypes come from? Do you think these stereotypes can work to discredit
the ideas behind feminism? Can you think of other social movements where people were labeled
in ways that deflected attention away from the actual issues being addressed?
6. In your view, what does it mean to be a strong woman? Are strong women always feminists?
Explain your reasoning. What terms are often used for women who voice strong opinions? How
might these terms serve to keep girls and women from voicing their opinions?
7. What does it mean to be feminine, as opposed to masculine? How would you define femininity?
8. What are some typical expectations of women in our culture? Where do these expectations come
from? How fair or accurate do you think they are? And how do they compare with our
expectations of men?
1. Write a story inspired by the following question: What does it mean to be a woman in our
culture? The story doesnt have to be based on personal experience (although it can be), but it
should be realistic.
2. Look through popular magazines, and see if you can find advertisements that objectify women in
order to sell a product. Study these images, then write a paper about objectification that deals
with all or some of the following:
What effect(s), if any, do you think the objectification of womens bodies has on the
culture?
Jean Kilbourne states turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step
toward justifying violence against that person. What do you think she means by this? Do
you agree with her reasoning? Why or why not?
Some people would argue that depicting a womans body as an object is a form of art.
What is your opinion of this point of view? Explain your reasoning.
Why do you think that women are objectified more often than men are?
Kilbourne explains that the consequences of being objectified are different and more
serious for women than for men. Do you agree? How is the world different for women
than it is for men? How do objectified images of women interact with those in our culture
differently from the way images of men do? Why is it important to look at images in the
context of the culture?
Throughout your written analysis, be sure to make clear and specific reference to the images you
selected, and please submit these images with your paper.
3. Watch an hour of primetime television and record what commercials, music videos, or shows
come on. As you watch, count and record how many thin and non-thin women you see. In
addition, make a chart of the clothes worn and roles played by the thin women versus the non-
thin women. Then write responses to each of the following:
What did you notice about the differences between how thin women were portrayed on
television versus the way non-thin women were portrayed? Do you think these portrayals
have the power to shape how young girls and women see themselves and others? How
so? How about the way that young boys and men see girls and women?
Eating disorder specialists cite the influence of the media as one influential factor in the
development of eating disorders among young women. In what ways do you think the
media supports eating-disordered attitudes and behaviors? Draw on Kilbournes analysis
in Killing us Softly 4 to support and illustrate your own points.
5. Advertisements for beauty products frequently claim that women can defy the normal and
natural aging process and seemingly look young forever. Find two or three ads for products that
claim to fight the signs of aging. Then respond to each of the following:
What point of view do these ads seem to have toward age and beauty? How is this point
of view conveyed, specifically, in each?
Do you think advertising has created the idea that youth and beauty are synonymous? Or
do you think it simply reflects this cultural attitude? Explain what you see as the
difference, and why it matters.
Do you see signs of this attitude toward aging in other parts of the culture? If so, give
some examples.
Do you think this is a universal attitude? Or do you think different cultures might take
different views of the aging process? How about within our own culture: do you think its
possible that our attitudes toward aging have changed over time?
And finally, how do you think the attitude toward aging reflected in these ads might
reinforce larger values and cultural attitudes in contemporary American society? In other
words, do you think our views of aging and beauty might reinforce ideas and ideals that
go beyond simply skin?
8. Read Joyce Carol Oates short story, Where are you going? Where have you been?:
http://www.mediaed.org/Handouts/WhereAreYouGoingWhereHaveYouBeen.pdf
Write a paper exploring any connections you see between the themes of this story and
Kilbournes analysis in Killing Us Softly 4.
9. Watch one of the following movies: Thelma and Louise, Notting Hill, Ever After, Miss
Congeniality, Boys Dont Cry, Transamerica, or Brokeback Mountain. Write an analysis of the
movie that draws on some of Kilbournes insights about gender in Killing Us Softly 4. Make
sure your analysis addresses the following questions:
In what ways does the director conform to gender stereotypes to create the characters?
In what ways does the director challenge gender stereotypes to create the characters?
Ultimately, what do you think this movie is saying about gender norms, and their
relationship to power, in American society?
10. Numerous popular songs have explored what it means to be a girl or a woman in our culture.
Some examples are Jewels Im Sensitive and No Doubts Just a Girl. Find a song, yourself,
that you feel does a good job exploring female identity, and write a paper explaining what you
think the song is saying. Try to draw on relevant points from Killing Us Softly 4 to support and
illustrate your interpretation of the song. And be sure to print out and submit the lyrics of the
song with your paper.