Sophomore political science major has curated an exhibition, “They Say Sex Sells . . . but We’re Not Buying It,” for the Memphis Area Women’s Council. There is a feature article in today’s Commercial Appeal about the show which opens 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 at Splash Creative Ink (2574 Sam Cooper Blvd.)
A gender and sexuality studies minor at Rhodes, Dileo also is an intern at the Memphis Area Women’s Council. She and the show’s organizers have put together a display of highly sexualized images of women from local and national advertising and news outlets. The goal is to educate the Memphis community on the connection between sexism in advertising and violence against women. Placed with the images are statistics demonstrating a culture that sexualizes girls early on and marginalizes women of achievement.
Organizers asked members of Girls Inc. to write and draw what they wanted to be when they grew up and in contrast to the media images, the exhibition includes self-portraits of the Girls Inc. participants. “You see wonderful things like young girls wanting to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, really empowering things,” says Dileo in The Commercial Appeal article.
In conjunction with the exhibit, there will be a free screening of “Miss Representation,” a documentary about sexism in the media, 2 -5 p.m. on Nov. 9 in Rhodes’ Blount Auditorium. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.