Why Advertising Sometimes Advocates Sexism

Gender equality isn’t only about examining women’s rights and opportunities, it’s also about redefining what it means to be a man. When marketers aim for gender equality and an honest portrayal of women in media, they shouldn’t be excluding men from the conversation. 

After a recent situation I was in, I felt compelled to touch on the hyper-masculine narrative we create in advertising and it’s manifestation throughout society. I don’t doubt that many women in our industry can relate to a work scenario in which they were put down by a man, or in which a man exhibited aggressive behaviour, or where they have been part of a sexually inappropriate dialogue or, worse, been in an inappropriate sexual situation. Sadly we seem to be contributing to and accepting this idea of hyper masculinity. 

Most recently a simple business negotiation escalated within minutes to a male executive belittling me with jabs that carried a sexist undertone and, within three minutes, to be exact, he aggressively told me “to go fuck myself”.

I mean, cool it Chris Brown, or this shit is going viral.

So why aren’t men penalised for this sort of behaviour? Why is it often shrugged off? “Oh, he’s just old school,” people say. Or “it’s just business, men can be like that.” I use this one example to illustrate my point but this is just one character I’ve met along my journey in the advertising industry.

Starting my career as a 20-year-old sales rep, where do I begin with the sexually-charged jokes and lines that were crossed? And yet, I’ve stayed in this relationship, like many women, allowing these scenarios to repeat because, “it’s fine, it’s advertising, the same rules don’t apply like other industries”.

If advertising has the power to make an impression on society and we’re trying to move towards true gender equality, why are we creating this hyper-masculine character in our creative work that we end up seeing actualised in the office? Personally I’ve reached my threshold. It’s not OK! 

Thankfully the truth is that, today, not many men actually relate to the prescribed notion of what it means to “be a man”. The film, The Mask You Live In [above] “follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating [the] narrow definition of masculinity.”

It wasn’t until recently that we started to question the negative repercussions these narrow definitions have on men. It is statistically proven that men are more likely to be diagnosed with behaviour disorder, violent crime, alcoholism and suicide. 

Now, there is a slow change happening where brands are depicting men as caring fathers and active participants in housework. BBDO India’s recent campaign for Ariel [below] laundry detergent made a touching film with the tag “why is laundry only a woman’s job” #sharetheload. How we define a man has a direct relationship with how a woman is defined. 

Unilever brand, Dove, as usual, knows how to tap into our genuine emotions with their Men & Care #RealStrength campaign, which is a more truthful and positive depiction of masculinity [below].

However, Dove's sister brand, Axe/Lynx is known for controversy around the conflicting messages to that of Dove. One such campaign, Dirty Girl, directed men to a website where they could use their mouse to “clean” mud off bikini-clad women.

But their new campaign, Find Your Magic [below], is a step in the right direction, portraying a wider range of men, including those with disabilities, smaller builds and even a hipster with cats crawling in his beard. 

When we have dialogue about gender equality and we start to change the way we represent women in advertising, praising campaigns such as #LikeAGirl, let’s remember that men are an equal part of that conversation. It’s time to see more work with an honest portrayal of men, as opposed to the hyper masculine work like Dolce & Gabbana’s campaign which resurfaced last year in the news [below].   

As we follow buying trends in the market, let’s also think about what trends we create as advertisers, change comes slow but always keep in mind the long lasting impact we have on both girls and boys.

And for the men in this industry who have acted hatefully and aggressively towards me, or any woman, I’m sorry that you were a victim of the work you created. Next time you pick up the phone to yell at someone, try tapping into your “real strength” as defined by Dove and other forward thinking brands.  

Let’s help empower women by letting men know they’re allowed to stay true to who they are, join Razorfish in supporting UN’s @HeForShe initiative.

And happy International Women’s Day to all the women - and men - out there!