Lesson 8 Prompt: "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt"

I chose to use the image on page 423 from Jean Kilbourne’s essay “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt.” It is part of the anthology, Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. All of the images from her essay effectively drive home the point that sexuality is widely used by advertisers to sell their product and quite often give the impression of male dominance over women and makes light of important social issues such as violence against women and racism. I chose to use this image because for me it is the most offensive of all the images and one of the most unacceptable. The ad is for F. Scott’s night club and shows a cocktail with the words “if your date won’t listen to reason try a velvet hammer.” This advertisement makes light of the social problem of using inhibitors as a means to sexual encounters.
The image is offensive to me for many reasons. It makes a joke of the use of alcohol and inhibitors as a means to sex. It promotes men to think that the use of alcohol is an acceptable means to get what you are looking for. I have a younger sister who is just of legal age to drink and things like this are very worrisome for me. I have a few different female friends who have been slipped the date rape drug and advertisements such as this one make it seem like it is acceptable to use inhibitors to get what you want. While I agree with the right to freedom of speech, advertisements such as this that promote violence and taking advantage of people should not be acceptable. It is up to as consumers to stand up against unacceptable use of advertisement to promote dangerous social actions.