Sexualising girls lifts glass ceiling
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Herald Sun - July 01, 2008
Written by Anne Wright MORE than two-thirds of women blame the sexualisation of young girls directly on advertisers and marketers, a survey has found.
Almost nine out of 10 women told researchers the glass ceiling they faced at work was fuelled by the way women were portrayed in the media.
Women blamed advertisers and marketers for encouraging inequality in the workplace because they had unrealistic views of women's lives, the research by Splash Consulting Group found.
Amanda Stevens, of Splash Consulting Group, said most of the 500 women surveyed said they would go out of their way to boycott a product or service if they were offended by an advertisement for it.
The survey found 89 per cent of women felt the way they were portrayed in advertising and marketing harmed their ability to be taken seriously in the workplace.
Miss Stevens said the male-dominated advertising and marketing industry was to blame because it was out of touch and didn't realise the impact of negative talk among women.
"When women are offended by an ad . . . they very much vote with their feet or mouth," she said.
Anna McPhee, director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace agency, said advertisers and businesses had old-fashioned and unrealistic views of women's lives.
"Women, like men, are equally career and family focused, ambitious and have diverse life experiences," she said.
"Advertising and marketing campaigns that patronise or stereotype women not only risk losing a large customer base, but also play a damaging role in cementing female stereotypes in the workplace."
Australian Childhood Foundation Joe Tucci said he wasn't surprised 68 per cent of women surveyed said advertisements were the main cause of early sexualisation of young girls.
"Children nowadays have been bombarded by sexual imagery and a large proportion comes from advertising and marketing strategies," he said.
"Parents try their hardest, parents already try to restrict the amount of sexual material the children have access to, by turning off the TV for example.
"Companies will spend millions of dollars on convincing children to buy their products.
"You're never going to win as a parent unless the advertisers and marketers will accept responsibility for what they produce."
The survey follows a Senate committee report last week that described the sexualising of children a "significant cultural challenge", and called for media outlets and advertisers to review their classification codes. |
