by Jarred Cinman (@jarredcinman) Oh geez. Do we need another “ism” to worry about? Our industry — and many others — already exist in the shadow of so much regulation and change that we don’t need another thing to feel bad about. We have some women in management; they get paid well; we put women on billboards around half the time. And no-one says they can’t make it to the top if they want to — they just keep resigning and going home to be fulltime mothers.
The attitude captured in this opening paragraph betrays that sexism remains society’s most pernicious form of discrimination. It is also increasingly swept under the rug by sloppily presented anecdotal data. This is one area in which dressing up the problem as solved and being able to point to a handful of exceptions is meant to close the matter off.
All too easy
It’s also too easy to blame men — the current reigning power elite — for the systematic disadvantaging of women in society. Unfortunately, many women are complicit in the problem — in what they say, accept and support.
So let’s get this out of the way: overall, it is improving. And not just in senior leadership but throughout the industry. Women are more likely to be considered for any position in the industry with less prejudice; and they are more likely to be well-compensated. That the person is a woman is unlikely to turn up as an overt reason for anything when it comes to career opportunities in advertising.
But, as with all forms of discrimination, the overt is just the bit that pokes out of the water. Centuries of deep-seated beliefs about where women fit in the world, and what they can, and can’t, do are never going to be undone in a few short decades. That we have come so far is to be celebrated but we face a new danger: the belief that the battle is over.
“It’s not sorted”
As Heidi Brauer wrote in this very publication, “it’s not sorted”. And we need to keep reminding ourselves of that because, let’s face it, the people with the most to lose in a shake-up to the status quo (namely men) have a built-in incentive to keep normalising.
The truth is:
- There is still a differential in what men and women get paid.
- Men still believe many of the stereotypes about women. They just say them less often, or when there are only other men in the room.
- Advertising still uses women’s bodies as the means to excite men and make other women feel bad about themselves.
I have written elsewhere that the election of Hillary Clinton in November will send a loud message to every woman and girl in the world that being at the top is possible. Whatever one may think of Hillary Clinton, that will mark a seminal moment in human history.
Real change lies ahead
But she will remain an exception — as does every CEO or managing director or chief creative officer who is female. Until women have exactly equal opportunity and status to men in society, the real change lies ahead of us.
And equal opportunity does not mean she can apply for the job. It means she’s equally able to get the job and get paid the same for doing it.
Equal status does not mean she has a title, either. It means she is regarded with equal respect. It means dressing her in a bikini to sell cars or Hollywood blockbusters is not ok. It means expecting her to be borderline anorexic to earn the bikini job is also not ok.
No two people are the same
The argument about whether women and men are “the same” is irrelevant. No two people are the same. That should not be a determinant of opportunity or status. There is little or no biological evidence that the abilities we count upon in business may be linked back to our sex or gender. Women, I contend, are capable of exactly the same feats as men in the advertising industry, and in most industries, given the same opportunities.
We have a long way to go. Progress has been made — one only need to look at a typical ad from the ’50s to be assured of that — but we must not quit before we have reached the finish line. We mustn’t let those with everything to lose conscript others, including women, into the belief that the battle is won.
It’s won when it’s equal. And at no point before.
Jarred Cinman (@jarredcinman) is a longstanding member of the South African digital industry, having founded one of the first professional web service firms, VWV, in 1995 and being the chair of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) South Africa. In 2010, his company Cambrient merged with Stonewall+ Digital Marketing and Brandsh to form NATIVE (now NATIVE VML), of which he is managing director.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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