Rhetoricsl Analysis 3

In the essay “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”: Advertisement and Violence written by Jean Kilbourne, she is explaining how women are affected by advertisement in magazines, television and other various sources of media through ads. Kilbourne’s purpose is to expose marketing advertisement that illustrate pornographic like ads and make aware how it could promote violence in relationships, how it also victimizes women on these ads to attract men to buy the marketing product. She takes a deep tour into the different ads like alcohol, jeans, perfume and other products that victimize women, yet most of us become numb to these images. Kilbourne states “men conquer and women ensnare”, that women are used as bait for men in these ads for the mere purpose of selling the stimulating product (575).

Kilbourne explains many cases in which ads dehumanize people but more so the women bodies, assembling a common attitude that could potentially lead to sexual aggression. She claims: “Sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. It is also more about power than passion, about violence than violins. The main goal, as in pornography, is usually the power over another, either by physical dominance or preferred status of men or what is seen as the exploitive power of female beauty and women sexuality”(575). It would be unthinkable to have children confined with this type of environment, yet it is spreading vigorously. For example, through video games and the World Wide Web, Kilbourne says that: “children have easy access to pornography… explicit photographs of women having intercourse…photographs of women being raped and tortured…” (596). Thus, having children exposed early to this kind of images and activities of sexual harassment as being a normal practice.

Furthermore, ads do not directly cause violence, but the images of violence accumulate and objectify the increasing of violence. According to The Global Report on Women’s Human Rights, “Domestic violence is a leading cause of female injury in almost every country in the world and is typically ignored by the state or only erratically punished.”(585). Nonetheless, men are still susceptible to sexual abuse, but the difference in cultures makes it inflexible to take seriously. Consequently why boys are less possible to report the abuse and get the counseling or treatment needed.

I approve of Kilbourne’s claim, aggression in men is not always visible but it is present; men by nature are masculine and a form of masculinity is in aggression that men will pursue women and due to trends and ads do they become more accepted by society that in the end shape us. On the other hand, I disagree with Kilbourne saying that is dehumanizes the female body, that women are said to be the victims in most cases because it is more than likely true, yet these ads are not bullet proof system that force us to act in such a way women know, men know. Everyone should be aware that business is never to get personal; these ads are compelling to sell a product in which they use these kinds of ads because of the rise in consumer ratings will benefit the marketing company, money can make people do a lot of things.