Blog #2: Attractiveness - Gender as Body Performance

This week we build upon core definitions and theories by examining how gender operates in interpersonal communication through voices, bodies, and language. It is important to note that gender and communication is not just limited to verbal "battles" between men and women over masculinity and femininity, but are most often displayed through nonverbal communication especially through Butler's concept of gender as performance.

The authors of your text call specially attention to cultural norms that define bodily beauty in very narrow, limiting ways. These boundaries do however shift over time (yay?), and our cultural interpretations of attractiveness do change as society evolves and changes. Remember when pale skin was beautiful or full figured frames were valued?

I don't really remember these times either, but sources say that we didn't always want to look like this:

Due to our narrow cultural conceptualization of beauty, and its ever changing depiction, unfortunately these standards have and will always be very, very difficult to attain. Advertising analyst Jean Kilbourne has been an active and vital voice in gender research that seeks to critique these unattainable, cultural constructions of beauty. Her documentary series, Killing Us Softly, has been a vital tool for critiquing not only the advertising industries, but some of our larger cultural discourses. For this week's blog, I would like you to watch this clip from Killing Us Softly and respond to the following questions:

1.) What is Kilbourne's central thesis? (i.e. if you had to summarize her central message in 1-2 sentences, what would it be?)

2.) Is the advertising industry responsible for acknowledging these toxic cultural constructions?

3.) How can we as critical consumers and women push back against these narrow constructions?

4.) Do you agree with Kibourne's claim that turning a person into a thing is the first step towards violence?