My goal is to expose the media's blatant propaganda and to teach people to become more critical consumers of the media.

Ann J. Simonton

For over twenty years I have lectured at colleges and universities across the U.S. My goal is to expose the media's blatant propaganda and to teach people to become more critical consumers of the media. I begin my talk with a brief history of my life as a professional fashion model. I then weave in how advertisers and the corporations that hire them dictate every detail of what we perceive as news and media entertainment. Using images of popular ads, album covers, billboards and other media icons I illustrate the ubiquitous influence media images have in glamorizing dangerous stereotypes of both women and men. Since most audiences have never viewed pornography in a public context, the images from mainstream pornography can be disturbing. I end with a glimpse of our history of political protests, humorous street theater and civil disobedience, in hopes of leaving audiences inspired and uplifted.

In the pre-Limbaugh/Stern days, audiences supported radical feminism. Individuals, mostly women, were unabashedly supportive and often gave standing ovations. Today audiences are more openly hostile, intolerant of anyone who labels herself a feminist, and more bold in their verbal attacks. On my speaking tours the majority of my audiences attend because it is a class requirement or because they were a part of an extra-curricular group "required" to denounce sexism. For example, fraternities have been required to attend because they were on probation for hazing or because one of their members had been charged with gang rape. Audiences who feel forced to come are obviously less friendly.

While I always begin my lecture by describing myself as a radical feminist, one time I altered this to "humanist" in hopes of keeping the students from instantly dismissing an hour's worth of information. Here are some examples of what I have heard students say during some lectures:

• A female journalist, slated to do pre-publicity for my talk, declined claiming that, "Feminism is dead." The fact that her employer, a major statewide newspaper, had just been purchased may have contributed to her decision.
• After one talk, an older, straggly-bearded man claimed that Hustler is merely satire, like Mad magazine, and therefore harmless. He followed me over to a cake and cookies reception after my talk, yelling, "Why can't I have an opinion?" I explained he had every right to his opinion. The woman who had brought me to the campus politely asked him to lower his voice since other people might also want to speak to me. His response was to leave.
• A beleaguered Women's Center director at a large southern college said she was constantly harassed by women who complained that the Women's Center was using funds that should be spent on more important programs.
• A graduate student stormed toward me after my talk, shoving his finger in my face, screaming that what I do is unethical because I teach people to hate men.
• A young Physics major, who drove me to my speaking engagement, said that men in her dorm harassed her because being a physics major was too masculine. They attached a coat hanger doused with ketchup to her dorm room door as a hateful symbol of her audacity.
• Just before speaking to a packed auditorium in Pennsylvania, I was warned to wrap it up by 9 p.m. since my audience might want to leave to watch a popular TV show airing that night.

I offer information that students are not accustomed to hearing, so reactions are varied. That some dismiss my message could be partly due to the fact that young students today are unfamiliar with Media Watch's high profile protests and activism that ended in 1989-90. People want experts they have "heard" of. But, if I reach only a few people-my work is successful.

Over the years students have often said that my talk changed their lives. Students claim they will never be able to view women's magazines the same way after hearing me speak. Men in particular remark that my talk helped them to understand this information for the first time. I also know my talk inspires students to take action. Students have started their own on-campus "Media Watch" groups and a Canadian group successfully petitioned to move a beauty contest (Miss Oktoberfest) off campus. During the live telecast you could hear protesters shout, "Sexist Pageants Off Our Campus!"

Directly after the first lecture I gave, UC Davis students stormed the college bookstore destroying a few copies of Playboy and Penthouse. The following day stories ran across the nation with newspaper titles like; "Former Model Inspires Students to Tear Into Girlie Mags." While this was not my specific intention, public expression of one's anger is a vital element of free speech. Beginning a dialogue about the legitimacy of college bookstores selling porn, waking people up to the hate directed towards women in mainstream media and resensitizing them is the crux of my work. Too often property takes precedence over human lives and dignity. As the political climate becomes increasingly hostile, speaking out and keeping the dialogue alive becomes even more vital.

Michelle Anderson, who is now the Dean of CUNY Law School wrote:

"I am going to LA this weekend and then to Phoenix next Tuesday to speak at Arizona State on beauty pageants and sexism generally. I think at these times of you, and how inspiring you were in my little world when I first saw your slideshow at 18-years-old. You gave me a language to talk about the oppression of women, you gave me insight on the problem, and you gave me a huge amount of support and inspiration at such a young feminist age. It was an amazing thing. Your love for women as a class was a bright and shining sun rising in my life at 18, illuminating my world and breathing fire into my heart."

Thank you, Michelle!