Killing Us Softly with Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.

 
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Episode 90 -

Killing Us Softly with Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.

by Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS

In this episode, Karin is joined by Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., pioneering activist, speaker, and writer, internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. Jean’s exploration on the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, her approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. Jean is also a National Women’s Hall of Fame inductee and internationally renowned media scholar and feminist activist.

SOME OF THE TOPICS DISCUSSED:

  • How advertising moves woman from being subjects to being objects

  • In the face of advertising, learning who we are verses who “we should be”

  • The ways in which advertising trivializes and eroticizes violence

  • The historic and current societal impact of advertising

  • “Killing Us Softly,” Jean’s groundbreaking film examining advertising’s image of women

  • The subjective, narrow lens created by advertising’s focus to only show “beauty”

  • How the objectification of the body in advertising heightens the risk for violence and abuse

  • How capitalism feeds into the addictive and harmful effects of advertising

  • Pursuing recovery amidst the social pressures of advertising

ABOUT JEAN KILBOURNE, Ed.D.:

Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. 

Known for her wit and warmth, Jean has been described as a "superstar lecturer" by the Boston Globe and named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the creator of the renowned “Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women” film series (and several other films) and the author of the award-winning book “Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel” and “So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.”

She holds an honorary position as Senior Scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women. In 2015 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

CONNECT WITH JEAN: