Let's Take a Stand and Pour Perfume Down the Drain

Tonight I had the privilege to go to a showing of a film called, "Killing Us Softly". I went to get extra credit for my Social Inequality class, but I really just wanted to go because it was something that interested me. The film is about how women are portrayed through media and advertising. I have always been disgusted and frustrated with how women often portray themselves through the media, but this film only opened my eyes wider to the problem.

And you know what else? It empowered me. It made me want to do something.

Women and even young girls have false images of what beauty is. We see a girl on an advertisement who is way too skinny, has perhaps had plastic surgeries, and then on top of that, the picture has been airbrushed and edited beyond belief. . .and then we believe that to look beautiful, we must somehow look similar to the image we see. The truth is, that girl in the image doesn't even look like that.

Why are advertisers entitled to define what beauty is? Beauty doesn't come in a certain pant size or the right bra size either. Beauty is much broader than that. Every single woman is entitled to feel sexy in their own skin. No woman should feel pressured to starve herself in order to lose a certain amount of weight or undergo surgery so she can be happy with her body.

In my opinion, a beautiful woman is one who can be happy with herself. Plain as that.

Also, there are many advertisements out there in the open that are very pornographic and degrading to women. Some of these advertisements which were shown in the film seriously left me with a sick feeling in my stomach. Dolce & Gabbana's ads were some of these that I found very most disturbing. I'm a bit unsure about even showing this on my blog, but I want to get some readers out there as angry as me. So. . .brace yourselves. . .

I own a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana perfume. A boy gave it to me one Christmas, and I honestly didn't even know what Dolce & Gabbana was. Remember, I'm a po-dunk Idaho girl, guys. However, my friends seemed excited about it and explained to me that it was nice perfume and I thought it smelled pretty, so I wore it on occasion. I have about a quarter of the bottle left and I plan on rinsing that quarter of perfume down the sink. I have made a decision to never buy Dolce & Gabbana again. No matter how good it smells.

The whole point of advertising is to make money. It's as plain as that. So if we, the consumers, don't buy the product, they don't make money. I know I'm just one person and Dolce & Gabbana would probably just laugh at me, but everything has to start with one person's actions. So join me in washing my perfume down the sink.

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To find out more about the wonderful lady who is the genius behind the "Killing Us Softy" documentary, check her website out at http://jeankilbourne.com/