Jean Kilbourne to Discuss Women in Advertising at W&L
Author, speaker and filmmaker Jean Kilbourne, internationally recognized for her work on the image of women in advertising, will speak at Washington and Lee University on Monday, March 18, at 5 p.m. in Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons.
Kilbourne’s talk is free and open to the public. There will be a book signing following the talk.
Kilbourne’s “The Naked Truth: Advertising’s Image of Women” considers if and how the image of women has changed over the past 20 years. This presentation is entertaining, fast-paced, and sometimes hilarious, yet also profound and deeply serious. “The Naked Truth” encourages dialogue and discussion and a new way of looking at oneself as well as one another. Her work helped develop and popularize the study of gender representations in advertising.
Kilbourne is the co-author of “So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids” (Ballantine, 2008). Her book, “Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel” won the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology.
She has written many articles, including editorials in “The New York Times,” “USA Today” and “The Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association” have contributed chapters to many books.
Kilbourne has made several award-winning documentary films based on her lectures. They are used widely throughout the world. Her first film, “Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women” (and the remakes “Still Killing Us Softly” and “Killing Us Softly 3”) are among the most popular educational films of all time. Jay Carr, film critic for “The Boston Globe,” wrote, “With skill, humor and acuteness, Kilbourne encourages action against these society-weakening images. Never shrill, her indictment is, if anything, understated.”
Her other films include “Deadly Persuasion: The Advertising of Alcohol & Tobacco,” “Spin the Bottle: Sex, Lies & Alcohol” and “Slim Hopes: Advertising & the Obsession with Thinness.”
She has a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and holds a doctorate in education from Boston University, as well as an honorary doctorate from Westfield State College.
Sponsors for Kilbrourne’s include W&L’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Office of the Provost, Department of Psychology, office of Health Promotion, University Counseling, Office of Student Affairs, Panhellenic and Leadership Development and Greek Life.
