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Taylor Martinelli

Professor Barker

English 101

13 February 2024

Is it Just a Handbag or More?

With the use of many modern gadgets and technology, we humans come face to face with

many forms of ads during our day to day lives. These ads are seen subconsciously, whether we

realize it or not. We encounter them on billboards, we see them on television, in magazines, and

even on the sides of buildings. All of these ads subject ideas and concepts onto society,

especially revolving around how we view women. In Jean Kilbounre’s film, Killing Us Softly 4,

she expands on the ways ads subconsciously change how we perceive women. Kilbourne states

that ads project the idea of ideal female beauty onto all viewers. This in turn creates a standard

that is unachievable by most women. She also points out that women are often posed in an

unnatural or childlike position. Such positions leave the model stripped of her dignity and she is

left to be seen as weaker. Another point created by Kilbourne is that the use of dismemberment

of the models’ body in ads leads to the dehumanization of the models. Such ideas are seen in a

recent Vogue magazine ad for a Louis Vuitton handbag. The ad itself depicts a young and slim

model laid out upon a sheet covered bed. The sheets themselves are of a white color and appear

to be made from a cotton material. The model is positioned across a majority of the bed beneath

her, with only the top half of her body being shown. The model selected is of a white-ethnic

background and has seemingly perfect skin. She sports medium length blonde hair in the image.

Her facial expression is portrayed as vulnerable due to her eyes being closed but leaving her lips
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partly separated. Lying on the bed next to the model is the topic of the ad itself, a black leather

handbag sporting the Louis Vuitton logo with gold accents adorning certain features. This recent

Louis Vuitton ad from the June/July 2021 edition of Vogue demonstrates Kilbourne’s points on

how ads promote the idea of ideal female beauty, how posing leads to women being viewed as

weaker and removes their dignity from them, and how dismembering models portrays the idea

that women are not fully recognized as actualized adults or beings.

Firstly, the Louis Vuitton ad provides proof to Kilbourne’s statement that ads promote the

idea of ideal beauty for women. When looking at the model chosen for the ad, we notice she is of

a white background. She has perfect, blemish free skin and no scars visible to us readers. She is

positioned on her back with her left arm reaching above her head to rest her hand within her

somewhat wavy blonde hair. She boasts a very small and slender frame. This ad promotes ideas

that women must be of a white origin, obtain no scars or have any blemishes, and lastly must

have a slim frame to be desirable by others. This in turn supports Kilbourne’s claims on how ads

present a generalized conception of beauty, some of which is entirely unattainable for most

women. Thus this Louis Vuitton ad is a perfect example of Kilbourne’s point ads promoting the

idea of ideal beauty for women.

Secondly, Kilbourne’s point that posing women in certain positions leads to women being

discerned as weaker and strips them of their dignity is supported by the ad provided by Louis

Vuitton. The supporting subject of the ad, the model, is laid out across the bed in such a manner

that it creates a sense of vulnerability in the photo. She is seen naked, with only the dainty cotton

sheets covering her breasts and upper torso. This strips the model of her dignity because she is

perceived as only desirable for her sexual nature. Her left arm, which remains uncovered, is

positioned in a ninety degree angle so that her hand rests tangled amongst her hair along the side
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of her face. The right arm, which also remains uncovered, is laid down beside her body and only

the upper arm is visible to the viewers. Her facial expression is seen as also being vulnerable,

which is supported by her eyes remaining closed and her face positioned toward the camera. The

model’s lips also helps this claim by being separated partly, creating this vulnerable and

submissive presence within the ad. Therefore, the Louis Vuitton ad demonstrates Kilbourne’s

point perfectly that the posing of women in ads often strips the model of her dignity and leaves

us perceiving women as weaker.

Lastly demonstrated in the ad is Kilbourne’s point that the dismemberment of women

leaves the viewer perceiving them as not fully actualized adults or human beings. When looking

at the Louis Vuitton ad, the model is positioned to show only her upper torso and a glimpse of

her waist. The cutting off of her lower body causes us to focus on her breast and her face. This

creates the feeling that the woman displayed is only a piece of something, instead of making a

whole entity. This leaves us to see the model to be seen as only a sexual object, not focusing on

the reality of her being something more than just a piece of a whole being. Hence this Louis

Vuitton ad is a perfect illustration of Kilbourne’s idea that the dismemberment of models leaves

the viewer to view women as not fully actualized adults or human beings.

In conclusion, the ad provided by Louis Vuitton demonstrates and supports claims for

Kilbourne’s film. Within the film itself, Kilbourne makes proposes the idea that ads are

subconsciously subjecting us to the ideas of ideal female beauty, that with certain position of

models we strip away their dignity and make women appear weaker, and finally that

dismembering models leaves the viewer as seeing women as a piece of a whole rather than a

fully recognized adult or human being. I believe that this representation of women is quite

opposite of most women in society today. Women are much more diverse and are more than
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simply a sexual figure, or a desirable figure. In this day and age, women often have pivotal jobs

in society. Women have offered many ideas and new technology to the world for us to let ads

present them as such an object of desire, or a sexual and submissive being. We should instead

support ads that include diversity and embrace their individuality.

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Works Cited

Killing Us Softly 4. Dir. Sut Jhally. Perf. Jean Kilbourne. Media Education Foundation, 2010.

Film.

Louis Vuitton. Advertisement. Vogue Jun/Jul. 2021: p. 4 and 5. Web. 11 Feb. 2024