This week’s assigned reading by Jean Kilbourne, “The More You Subtract, the More You Add” disgusted me but it also affirmed that of which I am already highly aware. Kilbourne dives into several manifestations of those clever little messages that seem to pop up every time we see a movie, turn on a television, listen to music, drive by a billboard and the deeper meaning behind them. Eating disorders are something I have to deal with quite a bit and have had a lot of exposure to. I was actively involved in dance from the time I was 7 until I came to college. As a dancer I was reminded CONSTANTLY of how I looked. I spent every afternoon/evening/night dancing in a room full of mirrors. I was constantly craning my body and exhaustively repeating step after step until it was perfect. In addition to that I was surrounded by young girls who had full blown eating disorders. Girls openly exchanged information and tips on purging, starving themselves, the best laxatives to use and so on. Sadly, I never questioned it. I kept my head down during those talks and reminded myself that they were doing what they needed to be the best dancers they could be. It was none of my business. This behavior was for the most part perpetuated by our artistic director who was the driving force behind the attention to our body image. Daily reminders during and after class, she was the voice in our collective young minds that reinforced this type of behavior.

So what does this have to do with advertising and it’s sickening grasp on impressionable little minds that it takes such a large part in shaping? It’s simple. If you’re told the same thing over and over and over and over again you’re going to start to believe it’s true. Only the messages I received were primarily confined to my studio and the life I had there. With advertising, it never seems to end. “Advertising does promote abusive and abnormal attitudes about eating, drinking and thinness. It thus provides fertile soil for these obsessions to take root in and creates a climate of denial in which these diseases flourish,” Kilbourne says. Stop and think about the amount of money in the ad industry….now stop and think about the amount of that money is made of strategically placed ads that are designed to promote and instill feelings of discontent and inadequacy, particularly in our youth.