One of the things that provokes my wrath the most (and believe me, my wrath is not that easily provoked) is the sexism prevalent in advertising these days. And I'm not talking about the blatant "show skin to sell stuff" attitude.
A simple experiment - all you need to do is watch TV at any time of day (although daytime TV is a particularly bad offender) and make a note of exactly which products are targeted at men and which are targeted at women.
Go one step further. Imagine you're new to the planet Earth and then try and create a picture of each sex based on what products are aimed at them.
One ad I hate: McCain Slow Cooker Solutions, frozen stews you put in your slow cooker during the day and then come home to eat in the evening. The ad (I'm sure you've all seen it by now) shows a woman coming home to her family after work; even though her husband's already home and in the garage tinkering with the car, it's the wife that is expected to make the meal.
A simple experiment - all you need to do is watch TV at any time of day (although daytime TV is a particularly bad offender) and make a note of exactly which products are targeted at men and which are targeted at women.
Go one step further. Imagine you're new to the planet Earth and then try and create a picture of each sex based on what products are aimed at them.
One ad I hate: McCain Slow Cooker Solutions, frozen stews you put in your slow cooker during the day and then come home to eat in the evening. The ad (I'm sure you've all seen it by now) shows a woman coming home to her family after work; even though her husband's already home and in the garage tinkering with the car, it's the wife that is expected to make the meal.
There's another similar campaign (it may even be for the same product) where a woman is at work and worried about doing overtime because she has to prepare dinner. Swiffer, Febreeze, endless air freshener adverts, adverts for kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, adverts for cooking, adverts for children's meals, baby products... Clearly it's assumed in the mind of the global advertising community that women care about nothing else.
And this message is a dangerous one. Advertising such as this leaches into women's minds and makes them feel like they should be spending all this time and effort cleaning and cooking - because clearly that's what every other woman in the world does - if you don't have a clean house, dinner on the table for your husband and kids, and a perfectly accessorized child with a brand-name packed lunch then you have in some way failed. With all the supposed emphasis on men contributing equally to cleaning, cooking and child care (and plenty do), isn't it about time advertising reflected this?
This is a subject that is bothering me increasingly... expect to hear more on this subject, with more examples, in the near future. Grr!
And this message is a dangerous one. Advertising such as this leaches into women's minds and makes them feel like they should be spending all this time and effort cleaning and cooking - because clearly that's what every other woman in the world does - if you don't have a clean house, dinner on the table for your husband and kids, and a perfectly accessorized child with a brand-name packed lunch then you have in some way failed. With all the supposed emphasis on men contributing equally to cleaning, cooking and child care (and plenty do), isn't it about time advertising reflected this?
This is a subject that is bothering me increasingly... expect to hear more on this subject, with more examples, in the near future. Grr!
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