by Meghan Kimberling ‘17

“The Headless Women Project” sounds more like a serial killer manifesto than an awareness organization. Marcia Belsky, a comedian and musician, initiated the movement to call attention to a tasteless trend that she observed while taking a college advertising class.

By displaying movie posters like “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and even child-friendly movies like “Minions,” side by side, the viewer can recognize a previously unidentified pattern: the women in the posters are headless. “We are numb to this type of imagery of women, and we see it so much that we don’t really see it at all,” Belsky explained.

By avoiding the advertising of a human’s most identifiable feature, the marketing industry is stripping women of their individuality and character. “It affects how we see ourselves, how we define our value, and how others both see and treat us,” observed Belsky.

Women have been dehumanized in politics, sports, and most any job in general. Advertising should not follow the same path. If headless women of film posters transition into every other means of advertisement, Time Square will be filled with billboards of women’s arms and legs.