Last Name 1

Larisha Synphanie Dennison

Professor Bolton
English 101
October 6, 2014
Beauty Matters
It is often said that you should not judge a book by its cover, although advertisements dictate
the status quo of beauty for women daily. Through hair, make-up, and size it has become common
today for women to judge themselves and each other based on the ideal image of women. Women are
often viewed by advertisement as perfect, delicate, and flawless creatures who are naturally beautiful.
When in all actuality females go through many changes and retouches to create and alter the way they
look. In Killing Us Softly 4, Jean Kilbourne discusses how women are viewed in advertisement. Kilbourne
makes various points that are displayed through Magazine ads daily. One of Kilbournes viewpoints is
that whats most important about a women is how they look and that time, effort, and money should be
spent to achieve the female ideal image. A recent advertising ad for Cover Girls TRU BLEND make-up
in the Essence magazine supports Kilbournes statement that the importance of a woman is based on
her appearance.
A Cover Girl ad from Essence magazine supports Kilbournes claim that the importance of a
woman is measured by her appearance. The TRU BLEND ad by Cover girl displays three celebrity
women; Janelle Monae, Pink, and Sofia Vergara. Pink is on the left of the page, Sofia Vergara is in the
middle and Janelle Monae is on the right. Each woman has on a white shirt and their makeup appears to
look perfect. Pink is looking at and facing Janelle Monae, Sofia is facing forward, and Janelles body is
towards Pink but her head is slightly forward, with her eyes looking at the camera. The ad displays the
words A PERFECT BLEND FOR ALL OF US, with different types of makeup from Cover Girls Tru Blend
collection, at the bottom of the page. Pink is of the Caucasian race, Sofia is of the Hispanic descent and

Last Name 2
Janelle Monae is African American. These females all have even skin tones and are viewed as the ideal
female of their race. The subliminal message of makeup refers to Kilbournes statement that advertising
makes society believe that whats most important about a woman is the way she looks. Each bottle of
makeup at the bottom of the page is fit to complement each woman and skin tone. Women spend hours
in the bathroom daily applying makeup to hide their imperfections. The goal of makeup is to cover dark
spots, acne, wrinkles and laugh lines when makeup is applied. Most women believe that they are less
attractive without their makeup. Many people assume that makeup is only used to match clothing and
complement beauty, while it really hides a womans deepest insecurity within herself. Ladies that wear
loads of makeup are attempting to create the woman that they wish they were naturally. The
psychological attempt to bury insecurities through cosmetics saturates a females natural beauty and
paints a false image. The message the ad is attempting to send is that TRU BLEND makeup is able to
blend with anyones complexion and create a flawless yet nude look. Makeup helps a woman feel like
she is achieving the goal of fitting the model image that society has put forth.
Another point that made by Kilbourne is that women of color are only beautiful if they
approximate the white epitome. Often times darker girls are told Youre nice-looking for a dark
skinned girl. This comment is often taken as an insult. Are we teaching our darker girls of color that
they are less of a woman if they arent light skinned? Are we telling our girls that they arent beautiful if
they are dark skinned? Advertisement today often lightens the skin tone of darker girls to fit the ideal
image. Kilbourne mentions that most advertisements show women of color in safaris or jungles placed
next to exotic animals; almost to say that if they arent of a brighter skin tone, that they are an animal.
Cover Girls TRU BLEND ad displays Janelle Monae daintier than her natural complexion, almost to say
that her natural beauty isnt good enough to fit the ad. Cover Girls TRU BLEND makeup
subconsciously tells darker females that in order to look prettier they should use this cosmetic to show a
lighter quality. The ad states to women that the cosmetic will blend with their natural skin color to make

Last Name 3
them look improved. The message this ad is sending helps create the low self-esteem that is often found
in women of color.
In conclusion, it is clear that Cover Girls TRU BLEND advertisement adds to Jean Kilbournes
two points that advertising suggests whats most important about a woman is the way she looks, and
that women of color are only beautiful if they approximate the white ideal. Often times whats displayed
on television commercials, bulletin boards, and magazine ads have huge impact on the way people think
of themselves. Women unknowingly depend on makeup to enhance the beauty they already have. Some
females compare themselves to females they see in ads, and wish to look like them. Females spend
numerous amounts of time applying cosmetics to in hopes create the girl in the picture, not knowing the
girl in the picture doesnt look the way she appears. African American women of a darker complexion
often compare their self to the lighter girl who is always accepted, instead of accepting their self.
Advertisement today doesnt encourage girls to embrace their imperfections but instead try to change
their look and flaws to fit the ideal image that cannot be achieved. Women should take pride in their self
and stop living for the approval of others.

Last Name 4
Works Cited
CoverGirl. Advertisement. Essence 45.6 (2014): 30-31 Print.
Killing Us Softly 4. Dir. Sut Jhally. Perf. Jean Kilbourne. Media Education Foundation, 2010.
Film.