Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

In watching Kilbourne’s speech concerning the effects of advertising on modern society, one cannot deny she raises many interesting points. By illustrating how pervasive advertising has become in modern media, she makes it clear how powerful it can be on our culture. It goes beyond selling products, and affects a society’s values, ideals, and concepts of sexual identity and normalcy. Kilbourne suggests that these effects are felt most intensely by young women.

 Modern advertising implies that flawless physical appearance is the most important. This establishes an unrealistic ideal, and any failure to reach this standard can be accompanied by guilt and dislike.  Adolescent girls are more and more likely to experience eating disorders, lowered self-esteem and scrutiny and judgment from peers. Any of these can certainly lead to long-term negative psychological effects, and the increased rates of teenage suicide in recent years reinforce the reality of this problem.

Kilbourne also demonstrates how sexuality is used to sell almost everything. Women are often portrayed as passive and vulnerable sex objects, and this objectification can have numerous negative consequences. Adolescent girls are receiving the message that their individual sexual identity should be defined in terms of submission, and that their happiness is contingent upon the presence of a man. This can clearly interfere with healthy psychological development, as there is now a pressure for young girls to grow up quickly. Developmental psychologists recognize that the process of “identification,” in which children try to behave like significant people in the environment is important to socialization. With the importance advertising places on sex, it is logical to assume young girls would try to match that behavior. This trend can be clearly seen in the hyper sexualized images of adolescence and the increased rate of teen pregnancy in America. Modern psychologists may point these traits to a gender schema, in which adolescent girls are processing what behaviors define their behavior femininity.

The objectification of females can be understood more clearly when compared with the images of males in advertising. While females are often displayed as obedient, silent and vulnerable beings, media tends to portray men as active, exploring and vocal entities. Kilbourne suggests that this subliminal message we receive is that women should be diminutive and their voices should remain unheard. This lack of strong females and feminine characteristics is troublesome because it can create negative stereotypes towards women, as well as wrongly influence young girl’s perceptions about their place in society.

Kilbourne is also very critical of the growing depictions of violence against women in advertising. Men’s sexuality is linked to violence, while women are not only objectified, but victimized, as well. By trivializing and eroticizing violence, a very dangerous model is set in which violence and battering is seen acceptable. Equally dangerous is the implication that women want to be forced to have sex. In no way can this be overlooked. Ultimately, when the media devalues women, it also devalues certain traits traditionally associated with women. If the media minimizes the importance of love, guanine emotion, intelligence and communication, society as a whole will suffer. It is through a fair representation of both masculine and feminine traits that empathy and knowledge can grow.

Although her main focus is on unjust representations of women, Kilbourne is critical of consumerism in our society. She urges members of society to view themselves as concerned citizens as opposed to consumers. An educated public, aware of advertising techniques, can initiate change. By changing the ads, it is possible to alter any negative attitudes associated with them. Psychologists must recognize the correlation between the objectification of women in media and the difficulties some adolescence experience both psychologically and socially. As our understanding of these processes increase, it is important to use it for the benefit of this and future generations.