The awesome Geena Davis serving up stats on women on screen. In summary: Less airtime, more nudity. Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/01/geena-davis-damaging-stereotypes-on-screen-limit-womens-aspirations
Watch a video about the thing you’re reading.
Want to know what this Campaign Bechdel business is all about, in approximately two minutes? Here’s something we prepared earlier: https://vimeo.com/358953511
Honey Birdette and the convenient co-opting of “female empowerment.”
You won’t be surprised to learn that Honey Birdette’s latest campaign, ‘Bodyguard’ comprehensively fails the Campaign Bechdel test. If you’re not familiar with Honey Birdette, allow me to give you the crib notes: lingerie retailer; favours soft porn-style campaign photography; subject to frequent complaints against it for filling its store windows with imagery of pseudo-lesbo…
The UK’s new gender stereotypes regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority, makes it’s first rulings.
“Absolutely ridiculous. Control state, dictated by the elite.” This is the kind of reaction the ASA is receiving for its first rulings on advertising gender stereotypes. Harm reduction legislation has always fuelled claims that we’re entering a nanny state; little do we remember, even seat belts were once considered “taking things too far”. It’s not just people who prefer exiting cars through front windshields instead of side doors who feel attacked by regulations such as those created by the ASA. Gender stereotypes are not on the minds of the majority of the population, and organisations who ask us to evolve…
Nick Scali and the lounging leggy blonde trope.
I’ve always passively consumed retail furniture ads – watching them but not really hearing what they have to say. Not that they require deep concentration: there’s usually a slowly rotating camera pan around a couch or chair, peppy and/or jazzy Muzak playing, and more often than not, a gorgeous gal reclining on the sofa. But…
Cannes Lions 2019 set to make better representation the gold standard.
Bechdel is so hot right now, as proven by Cannes Lions latest press release. Jurors tasked with awarding the best work in the world will now have to ensure it is also absent of gender stereotypes. This is wonderful news for progressing gender equality, and will certainly set a new standard for what it takes to be considered a campaign of comprehensive excellence. Read more here: https://campaignbrief.com/cannes-lions-expands-jury-guidelines-to-champion-equal-representation-and-equality/
B for Victory!
I’m so proud to report the news that Campaign Bechdel is creating real change! You may remember that I recently wrote about Holden Acadia’s campaign launch spot, where I called out their blatant objectification of teenage girls as trophy wives for teen boys. The article got picked up by Mumbrella and a few other Australian marketing publications. Along with the angry comments from the men’s rights groups section of the internet, the article seems to have generated some positive cog-turning too, because as you can see Holden have released a new and (slightly) improved edit: So while Teen Paris Hilton…
The girl is mine: Toyota Kluger.
Remember that icky 80s duet between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, duelling over a girl both claimed “to be mine”? Well, Toyota went ahead and made an even creepier version for their latest Kluger TVC, in which a grown man and a 10 year-old battle over the boy’s mum. The premise goes: European-styled car is…
Bechdel Crazier.
Women have for centuries had their pesky emotions dismissed as signs of madness. “She’s being hysterical.” “Irrational.” “Dramatic.” Craziness in women was such a widely-believed disorder that doctors in the 19thcentury diagnosed Hysteria as an illness and treated it by masturbating patients to orgasm. While passion is lauded amongst men, for women, powerful expressions of…
Sexism in everyday design.
Crash test dummies. Police body armour. Air conditioning. Even voice recognition, isn’t designed to work effectively for women equally as well as it does for men. This article from The Guardian explores the consequences of living in a world built around male data.
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