WUNRN
Swedish Women's Lobby
European Women's Lobby
During
the autumn of 2013 the Swedish Women’s Lobby carries out the campaign Ad Watch
– against sexist and gender stereotypical advertising. Trough the campaign, we
urge people to act and react on sexist advertising. We are many that have had
enough! We also advocate for a legislation against gender stereotypical
advertising.
The purpose of the campaign is to increase knowledge
on the matter and to provide a channel for people to act, react and discuss
sexist advertising. We will, together with the consumers, push for legislation
against sexist advertising and put pressure on companies, the advertising
industry and politicians.
SURVEY
RESULTS
During the summer of 2013 the Swedish Women’s Lobby
carried out a survey on commercial advertising and mental health among young
men and women in the ages of 13 to 30. The questions where on how gender
stereotypical, depreciative and sexual exploitation of women and men in
advertising, affect young peoples’ mental health and well-being. 1000 young
women and men from all over
Nine out of ten female respondents answered that
advertising makes them want to change something about themselves. Nine out of
ten also said that ads have made them feel bad about their looks and/or their
weight. Half of them are affected by it every day or every week. For male
respondents the figure was much lower – three out of ten answered that they
have felt bad about their looks and/or their weight due to sexist ads.
WHY IS
SEXIST ADVERTISING A PROBLEM?
Everywhere in our everyday life we are exposed to
commercial advertising. We are surrounded by commercial advertising with
stereotypical gender roles which creates a narrow idea of how women and men
should act and look like. In general, men are portrayed as strong, active and
powerful and are usually fully dressed. Women on the other hand are portrayed
as passive, weak, sexualised and naked – and as bait for commercial purposes.
The stereotypical presentation of men and women has
vast consequences for individuals and society. It legitimizes and increases the
power structure between the sexes and is an obstacle for reaching gender
equality.
Sexist advertising is also a public health issue.
Unnatural ideals and objectification of women in ads can create distorted body
image, low self-esteem and self-image. This leads to extended mental illness
and eating disorders amongst many girls and young women.
Women and girls cannot be in public spaces without
being exposed to objectifying and sexualizing ads. This is an obstacle in our
strive for reaching gender equality and affects women’s empowerment; it is an
issue of democracy.
An active citizenship and the possibility to affect
one’s own life are fundamental principles in Swedish gender equality politics.
The effects of sexist advertising and the lack of sanctions against it, do not
correspond to these fundamental principles, nor to the conventions and
agreements that the Swedish government has ratified. Article five in the
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
states: “States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures: (a) To modify the social and
cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the
elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based
on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on
stereotyped roles for men and women;”. It is also stated in the Beijing Platform
for Action that all UN member states ought to: “promote a balanced and
non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media.”
SEXIST ADS:
TODAY
Sexist ads can currently exist legally in
In
2006 the Swedish government appointed an investigation on the issue of a
potential legislation against sexist ads. The report concluded that legislation
is needed in order to improve gender equality between men and women. A
legislation proposition was presented in 2008 (SOU2008:5).
The Swedish government chose to go against the recommendations with the
justification that legislation would be a threat against freedom of speech.
Since then nothing has happened.
The Swedish Women’s Lobby takes this very seriously;
that sexism of this calibre keeps being allowed in the name of the freedom of
speech. The freedom of speech exists to protect opinions, not to protect
commercial interests where profit is the main aim.
It is time to act and react. It is time for
politicians to address the issue of sexism in advertising, sexualisation of the
public sphere and to make sure that companies and the industry take
responsibility. The Swedish Women’s Lobby is now launching the campaign Ad
Watch (Reklamera). The goal is to increase the knowledge of sexist advertising
and create a channel for consumers and people to discuss, act and react on
commercials.
THIS IS AD
WATCH
It is time for action! With Ad Watch we want to
encourage action, show that we are many who have had enough with sexist
advertising. You can easily report sexist ads by sending a photo of it to our
Facebook page, Instagram or use the hashtag #reklamera. We will publish it on
our social media platforms, report it to Reklamombudsmannen and send a letter
to the company behind the ad.
LEARNING
MATERIAL
We will also develop a learning material on sexist ads
and objectification for educational purposes for young people, organizations,
schools etc. We aim to give girls and young women tools to practice their
consumer power, see through the expectations that are put upon them and empower
them.
Don’t forget
to: ACT AND REACT ON SEXIST ADVERTISING!