By KATE HUNTER
The times they are a changin’ but not if you work in advertising.
If you think feminism is done and dusted and women are portrayed respectfully in the media, take a look at this video.
When I was a young ‘un, working in ad agencies in the late 80s and 90s, I was blase about women being objectified in ads. I didn’t really care. I thought it was pretty silly, but not worth getting worked up about. Sheesh! What’s your problem girls? Those kinds of ads have been around forever. If you don’t like, don’t look. Blah blah blah. I don’t know why I was like that. Maybe because I was young, ambitious and thought advertising mattered. Maybe because I was surrounded by men and cared what they thought.
Kate Hunter
Now, I feel differently. I notice ads as a shopper; as a grown-up woman – someone who’s concerned about how young girls see themselves (not just because I have kids including two girls, but I think it’s heightened my awareness). I haven’t been at the coalface of advertising for a while, so I was curious if anything much had changed agencies. When I started it was still very Mad Men, with the fellas running the show and the women largely in supporting roles.
One girl I worked with in Sydney back in the day, was a highly talented creative called Bec Brideson. These days Bec runs her own ad agency out of Melbourne – it’s called Hello I’m Venus and it’s the only agency in Australia that specialises in marketing to women with a particularly astute understanding of social media.
The battle of the sexes and sexism is an age old debate. And both men and women plunder the tension and conflict when looking to entertain. Or write advertising concepts. But the suitability of these cliches and stereotypes come down to nuances, subtlety and social responsibility.
Unfortunately, whilst males continue to dominate the numbers in the advertising industry (in 2012 just 3% of US creative directors were women), advertising will reflect a males personal experiences and appetites for the way in which women are portrayed. Whilst 97% of men remain the arbiters of the ads that clients buy, this will continue.
It’s a step in the right direction that Miss Representation has drawn our attention to this. Fortunately the rise of social media empowers the consumer to do something about it.
Given women are responsible for choosing 85% of household goods it’s time to let brands live or die by their bottom lines. If you don’t like what brands are saying… don’t buy them. Vote with your wallet. We have a voice. Tell them what you really think on their Facebook pages.
Women do the buying, so why insult them in advertising?
Kate Hunter is Mamamia’s contributing editor and an advertising copywriter with over 20 years experience and one Gruen Transfer appearance to her name. Kate is also the author of the Mosquito Advertising series of novels. You can buy them here.
How do you feel about the way women are portrayed in advertising?
Comments
44 Comments so far
I hate the way women are always portrayed as being straight and wanting to be a house wife and mother. Anyone growing up also known as mindless meat puppets will just follow along instead of thinking for themselves and there puppet masters “parents” will raise them to be girls and boys even though as every true adult knows your gender is insignificant, and is a part of what you are not who you are. Your gender doesn’t determine what you can and can’t do your personality should be something totally separate from your gender and real parents shouldn’t say anything like that’s not normal your a …….. add the appropriate gender specific title here.
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advertising trades on cliches… women are just as objectified as men…
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A change is under way to address this issue. The 3% Conference in the U.S. is challenging the status quo + urging clients to demand female representation on their accounts. We invite everyone who cares about this issue to attend our event Oct 16-17 in San Francisco.
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Honestly advertisers can’t win. They use “sexy” models women say it’s sexist and just a perve ad for guys. They use plus size models , they are accused of encouraging young women to live unhealthy lives in order to abstain plus size figures. They use men people laugh and say it’s sexist but to the other extreme. What exactly do viewers want to look at? A rock {one with no gender}?
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so there are no women who are not obese or cliche “sexy” ?
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I was talking to my husband last night about the new Berlei no bounce bra ad. The one that shows two women with very small breasts bouncing on bunny hoppers. The ad showed a close up shot of the models’ bums too.
I couldn’t understand how it was targeting me, as someone who needs a supportive bra for sport, at all. It just looked like an ad for the boys. In fact I’m a bit disappointed in them as I feel like I need to strike them off the list as a sports bra contender now.
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I just thought they were showing close ups of the balls bouncing to represent how breasts can bounce when you’re in an unsupportive bra.
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Me too.
I was wishing the models had larger breasts so that I could see if the bra really supported them-I am a 16DD and have issues with sports bras not working.
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Triaction. They’re fantastic.
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Oh that ad missed the mark in so many ways – the small boobs being the biggest mistake!
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Its completely cyclical – so long as young women WANT to be gorgeous, skinny and sexy, advertisers will create ads to appeal to this audience. Businesses have a right to push their brand and make money, so to ask them to ‘tone it down’ while young women percieve being sexy as giving them value in society… well it won’t work. But who stops first? The advertisers or women who buys products to make them feel beautiful?
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There are just as many ads that make men out to be stupid, useless, or in the case of the RTA ads for speeding, have little dicks.
Can you imagine the uproar if a Government agency created an ad that portrayed women as having enormous twats?
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Er, the point of the little dick RTA ads is not that “All men have little dicks”. It’s to show that idiots who speed and carry on like the people in the ad must be trying to compensate for something. It was targeted at blokes, presumably because young blokes are the ones who are speeding.
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It’s still derogatory and inappropriate – and if it was gender reversed there would be a feminist outcry.
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No it’s not. It’s telling idiots that speed to try and be the big man that it’s really not impressing the people you’re trying to impress, and they all think you’re a small man.
It’s targeted at young guys because it’s young guys who do it.
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No Kris, young women are increasingly engaging in the same risky behaviours.
Apart from that, it’s outrageously sexist and ridiculous that to be seen any other way except by those who think it’s ok for sexism to be identified in one way only.
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My experience in the world of advertising over the years has been mostly through voice-over work.
My “party trick” involves character work and straight work – particularly in the ability I have to portray ages from say, 11yrs to 90yrs.
My experience has been that when the advertising copy is too long (and they refuse to cut a word) or dense in detail – I’m asked to sound quite young as a young voice has more appeal to men and there’s less of a “turn-off” factor.
With an older voice there’s a chance that that commercial will sound like nagging or harping to the male ear – unless it’s meant as a caricature and THEN of course it’s comedy.
When I’m required to sound like a sane, responsible, likeable grown-up it’s usually for radio commercials advertising something “medical”, or perhaps retirement homes, banking, insurance etc.
Old women like bakery goods, funeral insurance and clubs with pokies don’t they ?
YOUNG women (or girls) love fashion, make-up, party venues, fashion and, well, fashion.
Stereo-types have always been promoted in Advertising except that the copy is more often written by women these days. It’s a bit sobering though to be asked by some “perky young thing” to do an elderly voice – which to younger ears is aged around 50yrs !!!
Most radio stations are writing and producing their own commercials these days – as opposed to 20yrs ago when it was mostly covered by recording studios………each studio had it’s stable of reliable voice-talent.
But not a lot has changed over the years as women still only seem to be getting a quarter of the jobs.
That’s less female representation over all really, despite the extra female – written copy.
I’m hoping things are improving since (through illness) I haven’t put my hand up much in the last couple of years.
I’d be delighted though to be called to play a 50yr old that loves fashion & party venues – I’ll be charging a “character fee” for THAT one of course !
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How else do you want a lingerie, swimwear or makeup company to advertise?
There are heaps of companies that have come and gone over the last (say) 30 years making women’s underwear/swimwear. The ones that have gained lots of loyal customers are those that present women as alluringly sexy (and nothing else). The companies that advertise how comfortable, affordable or durable their products are have atrophied.
You need to consider why a woman makes a decision to spend money on such products. Understand why this is and you gain some insight into the problem. We men are different in our spending decisions.
Those decisions are the life or death of the advertisers and their agents.
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Good point – it’s not really the advertisers responsibility to nurture our self worth.
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Yes, but women can’t and shouldn’t forget that they ARE women. Men love women. Women want to be desirable.
It’s also a little hard to really understand which ads in the video are offensive and which aren’t, when they are all out of context. A sexy woman in lingerie shouldn’t automatically be taken as blow against feminism.
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Yes, I was thinking this too. I have an online lingerie store http://www.cuddlesandcurves.com.au
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Advertising is the least of our worries when it comes to role models for women. While the music industry pedals soft core porn which is actively sought and viewed by millions (as opposed to ads which are pretty easily ignored) we haven’t a hope.
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Agree with you. Some of the music video clips should have R rating and not be shown during ‘kid friendly’ hours. Even the tamer variety like Jessica Mauboy have undergone a much raunchier transformation since their early days, the message clearly is ‘sex sells’, read ‘sellout’.
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Oh Kate, I’m too busy making a nutritious Nutella breakfast for my children, making sure my daughter’s jeans are whiter than white, and singing into my shampoo bottle while dancing around doing the housework to worry about how women are portrayed in advertising.
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This is off topic but what’s with all the funeral ads?? I’ve been mooching about on holidays watching crap tv and those ads are awful. I really feel for elderly/retired who are constantly reminded of organizing a funeral. I turn off at the hint of them.
On topic I always think tv women with periods are way too chirpy. More cranky women with periods ad people.
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I hate period ads so much! I have never bought new products based on those ads, just through trial and error!
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I realise this is a complicated issue, but personally the ads that portray women as objects of sexual attention don’t bother me.
I see men’s desire (obsession?) for sex as an evolutionary strategy … same with the stereotypical desire for monogamy in females. I know I am speaking very much in generalisations.
The ads I really hate are the ones based on the 50s idea of the wife staying home, keeping a spotless house, cooking gourmet food for the husband who comes home after a hard day of supporting the family.
I think portraying this as a female ideal is really far more damaging to female freedom than focusing on women for their boobs and butts. Sex sells, and it does so for many women as well as men.
And let the flaming begin
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Couldn’t agree more – bet we could find plenty of advertising that objectifies men if we really wanted to!
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Not really. Ads that objectify us turn us off and we close our wallets.
It’s a strategy I recommend!
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I make a distinction between “objectification” and portraying women as “sexual beings”. I have a problem with objectification but not with women’s sexuality. I would say a women is being negatively objectified when she is shown as being primarily for the sexual satisfaction of men and when her fuckability factor is being used as the main determinate of her worth. On the other hand, women are sexual beings and showing that is a positive thing as long as they can still be seen to be in control of their own sexuality and it is ONE PART of who they are and is not used to negate all their other wonderful attributes like their intelligence etc.
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Beautifully put Neeks.
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I agree with the distinction Neeks, but I think it’s a bit hard to portray such subtleties in a 30 second ad
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I work as an advertising creative, and can give an anecdotal explanation at least…
The simple problem is that women are not writing these ads.
Why? About 90% of advertising creative departments are guys. Maybe more in some places. (And about 99% of creative directors, for that matter.)
And they’re usually the same kinds of guys – white, pretty privileged backgrounds – generally lovely and clever guys, but they’re coming from a very homogenous mind-set.
When we get more diversity in creative departments, the ads will start getting more diverse.
Simple, eh?
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I agree diversity is the way to go and also a less homogenous mindset of male creatives.
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I’m also a female creative and I’m taking a few years off to look after my kids while they are babies. I agree that there needs to be more of us in the creative departments. However as long as creative directors balk at the idea of hiring mothers, and even those who might want to be mothers and therefore not be able to work til midnight, we will have a male dominated industry and the sexist ads will remain. I don’t fancy my chances of getting back in, anywhere near the level I was at, if /when I’m ready. Shame. But then I look at my kids and it’s not that much of a shame…
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It’s a massive shame! I’m staring down the same dilemma as you Me Too (not quite yet, give me maybe 3/4 years or so!) and I’m desperately trying to get my career in good shape before kids so it won’t completely wither if I become a mum. I’ve chatted with other female creatives too and we’re all stuck – we know that once we have kids, the odds are stacked against us – and yet we’re all the kind of people who are passionate about our jobs and passionate about advertising in general, and don’t want to give it up. TRICKY.
I dare say, if there were more mums writing ads ABOUT mums, the mums depicted might be somewhat more realistic than the cliches we see now.
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I’m quietly jealous of a job role called a ‘creative’! Not being blessed with that sort of talent, it makes me think of someone unreachable – way more beautiful and popular than anyone else. The sort of group you aspired to in high school. I suspect that if my job was an adjective it would be something boring like ‘a female well organised’ or something equally uninspiring! Possibly even ‘a female bossy boots’, depending on who you listen to
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I don’t think men fare much better though. In Aussie advertising they’re either the annoying doofus, the tradie who loves his beer/ute/boobs or the super successful hot guy (just as unrelatable as the female equivalent). When it comes to advertising everyone’s being treated like fools.
That video’s a bit all over the place. About 70% of the examples fit the message, but I don’t see what’s wrong with a sexy perfume making a sexy ad, or showing a woman all dolled up when you’re advertising a make-up range.
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Totally agree. My partner and I often discuss the equality in stereotypical images of the sexes in advertising. “What’s stupid dad done now?”, “Idiot boyfriend strikes again”, “Dad can’t cook so he bought KFC for dinner”…. Offensive to everyone really.
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There was a K-Mart (I think) ad a few years ago that featured a dad finding a party invite at the bottom of a school bag. He put the kids in the car and took them shopping for a gift.
Every time it came on my jaw dropped – a normal man doing normal things for the benefit of his family! Neither a woman nor a punchline in sight. Would love to see more ads like that – ones that show normal, capable men
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There are so many ads that drive me bonkers. The ones that protray women as obsessed with the cleanliness of their toilets are probably my most hated.
Where possible, I fast forward ads and when I can’t, I mute them. Simple.
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Yeah, anything that tries to suggest I should clean more belongs in the trash bin-which Ill take out when Im good and ready thank you very much.
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One ad that does my head in is where (I think) males of various ages apologise for the messes they’ve made in the toilet bowl. It’s a Harpic ad from memory. The presumption that someone else will come along and clean it up makes me want to throw things at the TV. Clean the damn thing yourself!
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Oh yes yes!
That one really gives me (quite appropropriately) the shits…
I especially love the implication that a woman’s lower bowel is innately a more genteel, ladylike organ ensuring that all women poo tidily, without messing up the porcelain they’ve so lovingly buffed to a high shine…
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