Argument #1: Kilbourne

Kilbourne's argument is that women are being portrayed in ways that are nearly impossible.  That they are almost required to look and feel certain ways in order to benefit or please others more than themselves.  Culture and today's society make women feel that they will never be perfect, but they have to do anything and everything they can to try.  Ads geared toward women create a toxic environment.

"The average American is exposed to over 3000 ads every single day."


The fact that we will spend over two years of our lives just watching commercials amazes me.  No one would ever think that two years of his or her life are spent watching pointless television.  What could one possibly do with those two extra years?

Just to think that I am exposed to over 3000 ads every day of my life is breath taking.  If I lay in bed at the end of the day, I'm not sure if I'd be able to remember even 100 of those ads.  The human eyes see so many scenes and so much activity per day that it's really crazy to even think how we can remember anything.

Kilbourne argues that women are being portrayed in ways that are nearly impossible.  By this she means that their bodies are being shrunken down to absolutely nothing to try and make them more attractive.  As a male, I actually feel bad for women today because of the ways they are almost being forced to feel and look.  Men are men, women are women.  They were meant to look the ways they do, so why alter them electronically to try to make them feel and look better.  When this action is taken, a fake/nonexistent human being is created.  There are too many ads today persuading women to change themselves.  Like Kilbourne says, some ads are directed towards males, but certainly not as harshly as they are towards women.  What happened to the saying "looks don't matter", or "what's on the inside really matters, rather than the views on the outside".  I get it; guys will be guys.  We always have the eyes and our feelings or looks of choice for young women.  Did you ever think that maybe this is because us guys have grown up looking at "fake" or electronically altered women in ads or on commercials?  In other words, we have higher standards in women because we have seen so many "versions" or different views of them.  It is a really intense subject and can spark a lot of opinions.  I think Kilbourne does an excellent job arguing her opinion.  She certainly got me thinking about many different views on this topic.