Through her presentation "From Aunt Jemima to Betty Crocker: How Advertising Batters Women," Marilyn Kern-Foxworth kept the audience of more than 400 on its toes and laughing during the Women's Week event Wednesday evening.
Kern-Foxworth was not only speaking literally about the battery of women through media portrayal but also "the battery of self esteem and self identity." She focused on images of women and how they "reflect upon us and how we internalize them."
She has written four books and more than 65 articles. She has been featured on BET, CNBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Emerge and Black Enterprise. Kern-Foxworth has given presentations worldwide and is the recipient of numerous awards. Her specialties involve the portrayal of women and racial minorities through media.
Kern-Foxworth said $400 billion is spent worldwide on advertising each year with the U.S. spending $200 billion of that sum. She explained that women are put into categories of caretakers, superwomen, victims or sex-objects through media.
She discussed influences from images of Barbie, Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima. She said if Barbie was real, she would be 7 feet tall and have the unrealistic measurements of 38-18-34.
"Aunt Jemima is a very despised icon among the African-American consumer market," Kern-Foxworth said.
She said Aunt Jemima symbolizes a way to "put Black women in the kitchen and to keep them there."
"We need to change. We need to be social activists because we internalize these messages and sometimes they can be detrimental," she said.
"We need to boycott marketers and advertisers ... or like I call it, 'girlcott,'" she said.
Kern-Foxworth shared her rendition of classic sexist nursery rhymes. "Jack and Jill went up the hill ... Jack fell down, and Jill went on to be the president of the Bank of America. She didn't have to fall down next to Jack."
Students said her presentation was effective.
"It is good to hear from a different viewpoint how women are portrayed in the media," Jacob Roland, a freshman, said.
"I think the points of this presentation should be taken very seriously. The depictions of African Americans are very relevant," Margrett McDonald said.
Kern-Foxworth said she hopes to produce change through her presentations.
"I hope to touch a life. It's not gender specific, everyone needs to be educated," she said. "People will carry the information back to their classes, personal lives and professional lives."
"This is the most well-organized [campus] I have visited," she said, calling Ball State a "well-kept secret."
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