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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 3 page paper that provides an overview of Kilbourne's "Killing Us Softly". A critique of sampling method is given. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KW60_KFsoc030.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
in the audience for the purpose of increasing profits. Popular attention was first focused on the exploitation of female imagery in advertisement in large part thanks to the work of
Jean Kilbourne, whose documentary series, "Killing Us Softly" provides critical examples of the work of advertisers. While the series may well provide insights into the insidious nature of psychological advertising,
however, it is important to note that its fundamental research methodology is somewhat lacking. Considering the importance of this topic, it may well be worth addressing in future installments in
the series. The research approach taken by Kilbourne in her series is to collect and display a broad array of advertisements in which women are objectified, dismembered, digitally altered, and
otherwise dehumanized in order to create an artificial sense of guilt in a female audience for not living up to an idealized and impossibly flawless image of beauty. Unfortunately, the
method by which Kilbourne collects these ads is somewhat problematic in its rigor. While her methods of collection are never explicitly outlined, it appears to be the case that the
ads are collected as the result of finding examples through convenience; or exemplifying whatever advertisements she happens to come across in her searches through mainstream media ads. This is a
major sampling error that potentially distorts any conclusions drawn about the content of those ads. For instance, Kilbourne enumerates some of her findings early in the fourth installment of the
"Killing Us Softly" series by pointing out that in the wake of psychological advertising, there has been a 754% in women undergoing non-surgical cosmetic treatments, such as botox and laser
treatments, as well as a 114% increase in actual cosmetic surgeries (Kilbourne, 2010). Indeed, these statistics are accurate, but because of the sampling methodology used to collect ads, Kilbournes claims
...