…it shouldn’t be a men VS women issue anymore
I’m not usually one to jump on the gender rights band wagon – wait that sounds wrong doesn’t it?
What I mean by that, is that I don’t like to involve myself in hard core gender equality debates or show that just because I’m a woman I am offended by something stereotypical. I believe that me taking offence to a sexist portrayal of men vs women doesn’t do anything other than create a bigger void between the two genders, whereby my annoyance is fuelled by the idea that men and women are different and that’s somehow a bad thing. I find that arguments, social media posts or groups I come across that are specifically fighting for rights for women to be represented equally in the advertising, will often take the route of putting men in the metaphorical position of the woman to show how ludicrous it is to show women like that.
Don’t get me wrong – the advertisements of the 1950’s housewives were blunt and backward and I’m happy we’ve moved past them. I just get the sense that the more we cling onto the idea that women should be seen in the same light as men the more we’re getting away from the fact that, politics aside (this isn’t an argument of whether we should have rights under the state) there is actually magic in the fact that we have our differences. Brands shouldn’t have to pit us against one another in a campaign idea, with how we’re meant to look, act or otherwise. For instance, we don’t have to be vulgar and claim we’re being masculine and we don’t have to be emotional and claim we’re being feminine.
To me – that’s just further highlighting the differences between men and women and when it comes to advertising and its portrayal of genders, my stance, or rather my dissatisfaction comes much more out of my annoyance of a lazy idea that seems to only be able to play into the realm of gender politics, as opposed to the fact that women are appearing as inferior to men.
Sex sells whether you’re male or female
Gender stereotypes are an easy play for anyone looking to work up a quick idea. The old ‘bra and beers’ debate we had in the office recently when talking about the new Cobra ad brought us onto other beer brands such as Fosters who’s portrayal of breasts as nothing but a shade maker for beer did nothing other than make me chuckle in favour of the skew of the stereotype that sex sells.
I agree that sex sells. I’d be a fool to think otherwise and I’m largely for it as far as cheap ideas go. However, a friend of a friend recently wrote on the Diet Coke Facebook page asking them why they were continuing to run with the same old, tired creative of a topless man making all the skinny ladies swoon. It got me thinking about how her dissatisfaction with this ad was much like mine in that I find the idea boring, tired and a poor use of creative juices. It worked once for the window cleaner – the song was a catchy one – it gave women a ‘dose of man’ for a day whenever it played, but I refuse to believe that years on, this is still the way advertisers are playing their cards or rather Diet Coke…again.
A new gender-neutral tone
When we look at feminine brands – there seems to be a running theme with the tonality, casting and script. It’s something Dove noticed and subsequently tried to change with their ‘Real Beauty’ campaigns. I know, I know, I promised myself I wouldn’t mention the ‘D’ word but to put things into context I felt the need to.
I recently saw the heavily discussed Veet adverts, seen here that went down the avenue of saying that if a woman didn’t shave she was essentially a man, and a grossly hirsute male at that . They’ve now thankfully pulled the advert and I’m happy about that, but the thing is, I’m not happy about it because it was a horrendously clichéd, theoretically sexist advert but because I am still struggling to see it as a good creative concept at all.
It was a U.S. advert and only aired in North America, however its message spread worldwide after it launched, with angry feminist driven reports detailing how disgusting it was that in today’s modern society we couldn’t just be hairy and be feminine too. They’ve got a point – being hairy as a woman doesn’t equate being a man and yet it’s a stereotype that Veet felt hell bent on portraying.
Refresh anyone?
I would argue that any female product advert runs the risk of appearing to appeal to a stereotype – just take a look at anything hair removal related – they’re portraying hair-free as care-free, suggesting that a woman doesn’t feel sexy with stubble. It’s not a new idea and if anything, the Veet advert produced something that took the joke to the next level – however tasteless it was. It tried to speak to our appreciation of humour, our inner most insecurities when it comes to body hair, the fact that likely, some if not all of us hair conscious ladies have uttered the words ‘I don’t want him to feel my legs, they feel like a man’s’ or there abouts.
This was never meant to be an article that aligned points to either gender – I maintain strongly that stereotypes least of all being somewhat based in truth at some stage are largely better when one takes them with a pinch of salt.
I am eager to see a brand truly present either gender stereotype in an actually comical light. I’ve mentioned my appreciation of Foster’s ‘Well you wouldn’t want a warm beer’ advert, but I think the feminine product industry is calling out for a refresh.
I was scrolling through my newsfeed just today and came across the following (a beautifully representative statement of our society’s relationship with feminity and hair). Comments were in their thousands from females twisting the words to suit them – one even highlighted the issue further with a girl writing ‘I hate it when I DON’T shave and get laid’. Sorry to be graphic but I think they’re failing to see the good in that.
I think it would be great if the next hair removal ad I saw didn’t feature a beautiful model carefully and meticulously removing every inch of hair from her bronzed body. Equally though, unwanted as it is, Veet has shown me the other extreme – what happens if I don’t care to remove the hair. I propose something in the middle that plays on our preconceptions of women with and without hair, that removes the idea of men verses women and that engages me as a person, who cares about taking care of myself, gender aside.
It would be refreshing if the comedy, as Bodyform did, dispelled the idea of women as ‘perfectly groomed’ creatures waiting for our men, and instead looked at the reality of being a woman and feeling good in whichever capacity. I cringed as I wrote that last sentence but in reality I want there to be an ad for people just being people, something clever and insightful that’s executed in a less gender-centric way. An ad that recognises our need to preen, the fact that we do care about what other people think of us (especially men) but that doesn’t make us feel even more insecure by making all that a thing we do for other people.
