Videos on Sexism and Violence in the Media
Tough Guise, Sut Jhally, producer. 57 min. $150. Distributed by Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089.
Focuses on media, violence, and “posing” that many boys mimic. The video covers a lot of ground and illustrates its points well with numerous clips. Because it features only one “expert” testimony – from Jackson Katz – some students may dismiss the video’s insights as “just his opinion.”
Dreamworlds II, Sut Jhally, producer. 55 min. $125. Distributed by Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089.
This is a disturbing, “must see” video. Its focus is on sexualized images of women in music videos. Excellent narration. One disadvantage is that most of the videoclips used are from the 1980s. Nonetheless, students will recognize that the objectification portrayed here is still alive and well in the new millennium. Preview before classroom viewing.
Killing Us Softly (1979). 30 min. $160. Distributed by Cambridge Documentary Films, 617-484-3993.
Still Killing Us Softly (1987). 30 min. $160. Distributed by Cambridge Documentary Films, 617-484-3993.
Killing Us Softly III (2000). 34 min. $150. Distributed by Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089.
These videos are filmed presentations that media critic Jean Kilbourne has made over the years about gender representation in advertising. The last two editions are more densely narrated than the first – and contain richer insights – but they are less fully illustrated. All of them are valuable and offer a critique of sexism in advertising that is hard to find elsewhere. Kilbourne’s book, Deadly Persuasion, covers the same ground as the videos in greater depth and may be a useful supplement.
Reviving Ophelia, by Mary Pipher. 38 min. $125. Distributed by Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089.
Mary Pipher effectively discusses and illustrates, with multiple clips and photos, the factors in society and media that destroy adolescent women’s senses of self worth. Reviving Ophelia is based on Pipher’s book of the same name. The book is also an excellent classroom resource, as it offers stories about teenagers Pipher has encountered in her psychology practice.
To order videos:
The Media Education Foundation, 26 Center St., Northampton, MA 01060. 800-897-0089.
Cambridge Documentary Films, Inc., PO Box 390385, Cambridge, MA 02139-0004. 617-484-3993.
