Unstereotype Alliance

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Unstereotype Alliance is a coalition of companies in the advertising industry focusing on reducing stereotyped representations in advertisements and enhancing gender equality in the industry's leadership and creative positions. [1] [2] Launched by UN Women in 2017, it has national chapters in Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. [3]

Contents

The initiative was inaugurated in June 2017, led by UN Women and Unilever with other multinational companies. [4] Its initial sponsors included P&G, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever. [5] [6] It was preceded by the "#Unstereotype" campaign started by Unilever. [7] [8]

Activities

Unstereotype Alliance provides guidelines and tools to avoid gender stereotyping in advertisement. [9] It released the first report "Beyond Gender 2: The Impact of Intersectionality in Advertising" in October 2021. [10] [11]

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Unilever British multinational consumer goods company

Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Unilever products include food, condiments, ice cream, wellbeing vitamins, minerals and supplements, tea, coffee, breakfast cereal, cleaning agents, water and air purifiers, pet food, toothpaste, beauty products, and personal care. Unilever is the largest producer of soap in the world. Unilever's products are available in around 190 countries.

Gender equality Equal access for all genders to rights, resources, opportunities and protections

Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician and former United Nations official, who served as the Executive Director of UN Women with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Sociology of gender Branch of the discipline of sociology

Sociology of gender is a prominent subfield of sociology. Social interaction directly correlated with sociology regarding social structure. One of the most important social structures is status. This is determined based on position that an individual possesses which effects how they will be treated by society. One of the most important statuses an individual claims is gender. Public discourse and the academic literature generally use the term gender for the perceived or projected (self-identified) masculinity or femininity of a person.

Fat feminism Social movement within the feminist scene

Fat feminism, often associated with "body-positivity", is a social movement that incorporates feminist themes of equality, social justice, and cultural analysis based on the weight of a woman or a non-binary feminine person. This branch of feminism intersects misogyny and sexism with anti-fat bias. Fat feminists advocate body-positive acceptance for all bodies, regardless of their weight, as well as eliminating biases experienced directly or indirectly by fat people. Fat feminists originated during third-wave feminism and is aligned with the fat acceptance movement. A significant portion of body positivity in the third-wave focused on embracing and reclaiming femininity, such as wearing makeup and high heels, even though the second-wave fought against these things. Contemporary western fat feminism works to dismantle oppressive power structures which disproportionately affect fat, queer, non-white, disabled, and other non-hegemonic bodies. It covers a wide range of topics such as diet culture, fat-phobia, representation in media, ableism, and employment discrimination.

Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empirically grounded, while others appear to be social constructs. Studies show the different experiences of genders across many domains including education, life expectancy, personality, interests, family life, careers, and political affiliation. Gender inequality is experienced differently across different cultures and also affects non-binary people.

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is a global association for multinational marketers and national advertiser associations. Its membership is made up of over 120 of the world's top brands and national associations in more than 60 markets. WFA's aim is to champion effective and sustainable marketing communications worldwide.

UN Women International organization

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls and LGBTIQ+ rights, and focuses on a wide array of issues, including violence against women and violence against LGBTIQ+ people.

Gender advertisement refers to the images in advertising that depict stereotypical gender roles and displays. Gender displays are used heavily in advertising in order to establish the role of one gender in relation with the other, and some scholars argue that advertisers are obsessed with gender. Advertisers focus on gender relationships, because people define themselves by gender, and gender can be "communicated at a glance", making it easy for advertisers to use this theme in their work. The effects of advertising on body image have been studied by researchers, ranging from psychologists to marketing professionals. "These days we know that the media and body image are closely related. Particularly, the body image advertising portrays affects our own body image. Of course, there are many other things that influence our body image: parenting, education, intimate relationships, and so on. The popular media does have a big impact, though." This is because thousands of advertisements contain messages about physical attractiveness and beauty, examples which include commercials for clothes, cosmetics, weight reduction, and physical fitness. Researchers have conducted studies in an attempt to see if such advertisements have effects on teenage body image, and what those effects might be. Scholars from the University of Colorado and Millsaps College conducted research that concluded that the images, symbols, and practices of the media are used by the audiences they reach and that media does, in important ways, have the “last word” concerning the way individuals feel about themselves. Women account for 85% of consumer purchases.

The exploitation of women in mass media is the use or portrayal of women in mass media as objects to increase the appeal of media or a product to the detriment of, or without regard to, the interests of the women portrayed, or women in general. This process includes the presentation of women as sexual objects and the setting of feminine beauty ideals that women are expected to reflect. Sexual exploitation of women in the media dates back to 19th century Paris, in which ballerinas were exposed to harassment and objectification. The ballerinas in the Paris Opera Ballet were ogled by their male audience members and often even expected to perform sexual favors for the male subscribers behind the scenes. Feminists and other advocates of women's rights have criticized such exploitation. The most often criticized aspect of the use of women in mass media is sexual objectification, but dismemberment can be a part of the objectification as well.

Whitewashing in beauty is a phenomenon in the intersection of the fashion industry, digital photography, mass media, marketing and advertising. It describes a situation in which the skin tone of non-white people – when depicted in magazine covers, advertisements, commercials, music videos, etc. – is digitally retouched or physically modified to appear whiter. Whitewashing can also present itself in the alteration of hair texture to resemble Eurocentric beauty ideals of straight hairPassage(s) to be sourced. Whitewashing can be seen in the form of skin whitening, either digitally or with harmful skin bleaching products, or by chemically relaxing textured hair to make it conform to Eurocentric beauty standardsPassage(s) to be sourced. Additionally, plastic surgery can be used to alter features to make them appear more European, such as double eyelid surgery.

Appalachian stereotypes Inaccurate impressions about Appalachian people and culture

The Appalachian region and its people are mostly viewed negatively due to the "Appalachian Stereotype". According to Stuart Hall, a scholar of cultural studies, a stereotype can be described as using images, tools, and identity to understand why people make certain judgments. These are generalizations that people, especially those that live outside the region, have towards the place and its inhabitants. Historically, media sources have played a significant role in promoting these stereotypes. Due to this, the world outside the region largely views the Appalachian area as lawless, violent, and uneducated.

Media and gender refers to the relationship between mass media and gender, and how gender is represented within media platforms. These platforms include but are not limited to film, radio, television, advertisement, social media, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to promote gender equality and reinforce women's empowerment in the media industry and representations. For example, UNESCO, in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists, elaborated the Gender-sensitive Indicators for Media contributing to gender equality and women's empowerment in all forms of media.

HeForShe Solidarity movement for the advancement of gender equality

HeForShe, often referred to as He for She, is a solidarity movement for the advancement of gender equality, initiated by the United Nations. Grounded in the idea that gender inequality is an issue that affects all people, socially, economically and politically, HeForShe is a global effort that seeks to involve men and boys in achieving equality by taking action against negative gender stereotypes and behaviors. Its logo represents the union of women and men working together to achieve gender equality, by joining together aspects of both the female and male symbols.

The Red Elephant Foundation is a youth-led civilian peacebuilding initiative that works for gender equality and peace through storytelling, art advocacy, tech-for-good and digital media engagement. The initiative was founded by Kirthi Jayakumar in Chennai, India, on June 5, 2013. On June 4, 2017, The Red Elephant Foundation was recommended by Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, for Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council.

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Feminism in Pakistan refers to the set of movements which aim to define, establish, and defend the rights of women in Pakistan.This may involve the pursuit of equal political, economic, and social rights, alongside equal opportunity. These movements have historically been shaped in response to national and global reconfiguration of power, including colonialism, nationalism, Islamization, dictatorship, democracy, and the War on Terror. The relationship between the women's movement and the Pakistani state has undergone significant shifts from mutual accommodation to confrontation and conflict.

Foreign aid for gender equality in Jordan includes programs funded by governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that aim to empower women, close gender based gaps in opportunity and experience, and promote equal access to education, economic empowerment, and political representation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Purplewashing is a compound word modeled on the term whitewash. The prefix "purple" is associated with feminism while the verb "wash" refers to the co-opting strategies that use minority rights to maintain or enhance structural forms of discrimination.

Menopause in the workplace is a social and human resources campaigning issue in which people work to raise awareness of the impact menopause symptoms can have on attendance and performance in the workplace.

References

  1. "About the Unstereotype Alliance". unstereotypealliance.org.
  2. "Are you ready for change? Gender equality attitudes study 2019, page 62" (PDF). unwomen.org.
  3. "National Chapters". www.unstereotypealliance.org.
  4. O’Reilly, Lara (2019-01-28). "Some Marketers Moving Away From Dated Gender Targeting, Study Shows". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  5. "Press Release: In Cannes, UN Women Executive Director calls on members of global industry to eliminate gender stereotypes in advertising". UN Women – Headquarters.
  6. Cristina Aced (2022-03-08). "Bye-bye stereotypes: why brands shouldn't communicate to women". UPF-BSM. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  7. "Unilever Aims to Eradicate Stereotypes". CMO TODAY. 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  8. "All you need to know to unstereotype advertising". www.unstereotypealliance.org.
  9. Gutmann, Bernadette; Jha, Shreyasi; O’Doherty, Emer; Banerji, Ranjavati (2022-03-02). "Selling Stereotypes: Reviewing the Impact of Business Advertisements on Gender Norms and Socialization". Business and Human Rights Journal. 7 (1): 157–162. doi:10.1017/bhj.2021.48. ISSN   2057-0198. S2CID   247195738.
  10. "Positive impact of intersectionality in advertising". ipsos.com. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  11. "Beyond Gender 2: The Impact of Intersectionality in Advertising". www.unstereotypealliance.org.