Watch The Video And Then Answer The Questions 1

Once you have watched the video: Killing Us Softly 4 – you may participate in the following discussion by reflecting upon all of the following prompts, for 250 words or more, in multiple, well-formatted paragraphs.

Discussion Prompts:

Do you feel that our ideals of femininity and masculinity are learned or natural? Why?

Can people, whether female or male, have both “feminine” and “masculine” characteristics? Do
you see a danger in limiting people to one or the other?

What are some stereotypical stories media tell about women? What are some stereotypical
stories media tell about men? Give some examples of each. What patterns of difference do you
see between these two kinds of typical narratives?

There are many advertisements for beauty products that claim to help women look young. What
effect do you think this has on the way that women feel about themselves as they age? What
effect do you think this has on the value our culture gives to older women? To youth?

In what ways do images of thinness and advertisements for food contradict each other in the
media? How might their combined effects lead to disordered eating?

Advertisements that objectify men have increased dramatically in recent years. Although
objectification doesn’t have the same violent consequences for men that it has for women, there
have been recent studies that show that the objectification of men is beginning to take a toll on
men’s self-esteem. More men are reporting dissatisfaction with their bodies, and eating disorders
among men are on the rise. In what ways might the objectification of men in advertisements be
affecting how men feel about their own bodies?