About 8 years ago, when my eldest daughter was 5 years old, we were walking outside a car wash, and she asked me, "Mama, why is the girl naked on the tire?" I'm sure you have had similar experiences. And you will have found that through the eyes of children we can become aware of things that we may not notice because we are used to them to the point where they become "invisible."
The fight against gender stereotypes consists precisely in this: to become aware, to perceive, to be in constant interaction with the world around us in order to make it better. And if we succeed, fairer for all.
To welcome you to today's press conference at which we are renewing the Memorandum of Understanding between the Office of the Gender Equality Commissioner and the Advertising Standards Board and to take this opportunity to thank the Board of the Board, the Chair, its members and the Director for their cooperation.
It is a fact that advertising shapes society's views and attitudes towards gender. When advertising follows the beaten track, it ends up feeding stereotypes and perpetuating beliefs that ultimately perpetuate sexist attitudes. This ends up being mirrored in our daily lives and unconsciously determines to a large extent how we see ourselves. All the more so when we are at a young age and form our vision and expectations of how we want to be when we grow up. In other words, stereotypes and given, structured roles limit our choices. They create molds. They create norms in society that are difficult to challenge.
In advertising, we watch women focus on their appearance, on the image of the happy homemaker, the caring mother, and the working woman who is always stylish and meets certain standards of beauty.
Men are the "cool" and successful ones, who are usually rewarded with a "trophy" of a woman or several women and if they are even "luckier" with a car showing off their power. Hence the advertisements with cars or their parts are always accompanied by a woman. Preferably naked! Under the guise of humour, women are still presented as objects of desire, naive and gullible, with limited capabilities, and men as rational, confident, conquerors and dominant. Where our children, and we as adults, do not identify with what they see, they experience a self-doubt about themselves as they feel they do not belong. Even individuals who identify with certain behaviors do not mean that they do not question themselves. Perhaps even more so than people who do not identify.
Having said the above, I would like to point out that there is a significant change in the field of advertising, with a now conscious effort to deconstruct and challenge stereotypes.
Most likely this comes from the great pressure from society, which rejects the anachronistic portrayal of gender roles. The climate created by movements such as #MeToo have had a huge impact and brought about radical changes in the way we see the world. It was an awakening and an awareness of all the things that, as I said before, have been "invisible."
For example, if you remember the Dolce & Gabbana fashion house ad which was essentially a simulated gang rape, I think if it was shown today it would face mass outrage and boycott.
At the same time, we cannot ignore the trend of a generalized regression in women's rights, which is largely due to actions that are superficial rather than substantive. Feminism has become a fashionable and catchy slogan. Political correctness sometimes trumps substance. And these are phenomena that should not be ignored.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The time has come for the world of advertising to become socially conscious. To adapt to our times and follow the needs and sensitivities of the societies to which it is addressed.
Antonio Guterres, in a speech on International Women's Rights Day, said that we need 300 years to achieve full and effective gender equality. In a recent MSM post he also said that no country has reached gender equality.
And that is the great truth. The number of incidents of gender-based violence is overwhelming and telling. Discrimination at all levels is real and erects a wall in front of girls and women who struggle all their lives to break through it.
No action alone is enough. What we say and say again is the need for a holistic approach. As I said before, we must not dwell on superficial approaches and catchy slogans. We need actions at all levels, good coordination and awareness-raising in society.
This is also the Government's objective through the upgrading and institutionalisation of the Office of the Gender Equality Commissioner, which, once established, will play a coordinating, supervisory role in the horizontal implementation of the gender dimension in the state machinery.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to point out that, in the context of the above, the Office of the Equality Commissioner aims to work holistically, with interrelated actions across the whole spectrum of life, in order to consolidate the culture of gender equality. To this end, the Office of the Gender Equality Commissioner and I personally stand ready to work with the private sector to break down stereotypes and prejudices for a healthier society and a stronger economy.
(MB/SX)
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