History Professor Gail Bederman led a symposium Tuesday night entitled "Images of Women Throughout History" in the basement of Cavanaugh Hall to an all female audience.

The discussion commenced after viewing a short film entitled Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising and the Image of Women. The film, hosted by specialist Jean Kilborne, is a study of gender representation in advertising and the media.

In the film Kilborne recognizes that advertising, a 180 billion dollar a year industry, sells not only products, but also values, attitudes, concepts of love and sex and the desire for normalcy.

For women, the mass media focuses primarily on their physical appearance and presents an unrealistic and idealized image for young impressionable viewers. Although these images are "impossibly perfect," a core belief in American culture remains that if women try hard enough, they can attain a perfect body type.

Kilborne presents contemporary ads in newspapers and magazines that depict women in contradictory fashions. Although women are very often portrayed as sex objects and they are also shown to be childlike and passive. In both cases women are portrayed as powerless, said Kilborne in her film.

"She makes a strong case," said Bederman at the end of the Kilborne's movie. Bederman began her talk by asking her audience if they saw themselves affected by advertising. Although Bederman, a professor of women's history, referred to herself as a "professional feminist," she admitted to still being affected by the media's images. "It becomes so persuasive because it is encompassing," said Bederman.

The question sparked a conversation between attendees that touched on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to the image of women in the media and on the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's campuses.

Bederman listened and responded to campus issues such as the increased number of female students with eating disorders, the problems with gender relations, and the negative stereotypes of Saint Mary's women.

More than one participant pointed to the irony in the decision of Saint Mary's to prohibit the Vagina Monologues, a play celebrating femininity, while hosting the Keenan Review, which often slaps Saint Mary women with many debilitating stereotypes.

Another member of the audience recalled her disappointment with the fact that the University of Notre Dame has to give away student tickets for the top ranked women's basketball game while tickets for the men's team remain expensive.

The discussions closed with Bederman imploring her audience to continue communicating and challenging their peers through discussion of images of women in society.

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