The Ineffectiveness of “Two ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” Jean Kilbourne as an educator and award-winning author should have written a better essay. From lecturing about the effects of advertisements to writing articles and books, she should have executed her purpose clearer. This essay shows that she is not a fan of how advertisements, in her opinion, exploit women, but her overabundance of opinions and irrelevant material, as well as her non-evidential conclusions make this piece ineffective in changing said advertisements.
She uses photos of different ads to shock us and help make her position clearer, which is a good literary tactic. However, her interpretation of these ads is vastly opinionated and has no support. In paragraph eight, she …show more content…
On page 495, she says “between one-third and three-quarters of all cases of sexual abuse involve alcohol,” which might be true. However, the fact that she uses a source with such a wide range of numbers makes it seem as though she is just making things up. The Cuervo campaign, right under those numbers, seems sinister if you read her explanation of it, however it could also mean to go and make new friends, instead of the ad telling you to go and date rape someone. Farther down on that page, she informs us that women are the cruelest judges of other women, but there is no evidence given to support that. A few pages later, Kilbourne tells us that women don’t put full names on mailboxes, which don’t fit full names, and we keep our keys out when we are alone and going to our cars at night, which makes it easier than digging through your purse in the dark, and that women are wary of doors, which could open and hit you at any moment. She says that men don’t have to worry about these things, but neither do women. There are other ways to explain these tendencies that don’t involve us thinking that men are preying on us because of advertisements. Kilbourne explains a Pepsi commercial to us as well. She goes from telling us how two young teen boys are making suggestive comments, about a can, to telling us how we
She uses photos of different ads to shock us and help make her position clearer, which is a good literary tactic. However, her interpretation of these ads is vastly opinionated and has no support. In paragraph eight, she …show more content…
On page 495, she says “between one-third and three-quarters of all cases of sexual abuse involve alcohol,” which might be true. However, the fact that she uses a source with such a wide range of numbers makes it seem as though she is just making things up. The Cuervo campaign, right under those numbers, seems sinister if you read her explanation of it, however it could also mean to go and make new friends, instead of the ad telling you to go and date rape someone. Farther down on that page, she informs us that women are the cruelest judges of other women, but there is no evidence given to support that. A few pages later, Kilbourne tells us that women don’t put full names on mailboxes, which don’t fit full names, and we keep our keys out when we are alone and going to our cars at night, which makes it easier than digging through your purse in the dark, and that women are wary of doors, which could open and hit you at any moment. She says that men don’t have to worry about these things, but neither do women. There are other ways to explain these tendencies that don’t involve us thinking that men are preying on us because of advertisements. Kilbourne explains a Pepsi commercial to us as well. She goes from telling us how two young teen boys are making suggestive comments, about a can, to telling us how we