Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt

I found this essay disturbing in many ways. I agree with Kilbourne on a few points, but I think she vastly overestimates the effects of advertising. Kilbourne believes advertisements cause people to do things, either consciously or subconsciously. I believe it is the other way around. Advertisers want consumers to buy their product. Their goal is not to make sure women get raped, ther goal is to make an impression in the mind of a reader. The fact that advertising is more sexual and disgusting that in was twenty or thirty years ago is disturbing because it reflects the values and priorities of our culture, but ads like these do not dictate our behavior. Men were attracted to the female body long before advertisements told them to be. Men who rape women do not do so because a cologne advertisement suggested the idea. Although I believe it is possible to find a woman attractive without being perverted, it is sad that we live in a culture where women carry pepper spray, and feel uncomfortable and objectified everywhere they go. But we cannot blame the media for making us how we are, and I think we as adults should be able to handle seeing a picture of someone in their underwear without getting offended.