Recently I stumbled across a powerful campaign called “Women Not Objects” that blasts advertisers for objectifying women and perpetuating harmful and unrealistic standards of beauty. According to the campaign’s video (below), “we raise our little girls to view their bodies as projects to be constantly improved…Girls grow up to think how they look is more important than how they feel or who they are or what they can do.”
Wow. That certainly caught my attention.
The campaign criticizes corporations that hyper-sexualize women and girls and trivialize violence against women in order to sell products. The group says the objectification of women doesn’t just hurt our feelings, it harms women “psychologically, physically, mentally and socially.”
According to the organization’s website, the mission of the campaign is pretty ambitious. They seek to end objectification in advertising, to teach girls that their worth is not their weight, looks or body parts but who they are, to support brands that empower women and to inspire the world to find a better way.
Of course, I hope the group achieves each and every one of their objectives. I admire their courage to take on such a critical social issue but I will be interested to see how they will set out to accomplish their goals. In my opinion, the campaign lacks an action plan as well as a strong call to action. In all communications, supporters are encouraged to declare their allegiance by posting to their social media accounts with the designated hashtag (#IStandUp). And, that’s about it… There’s no other way for a supporter to join the fight.
While it’s certainly a cause that is widely regarded to be worthwhile, having such ambitious goals of overhauling the ad industry AND influencing the social narrative will ultimately divide the campaign’s efforts and successes. I would recommend that they attempt to transform the public’s view on the issue before tackling the issue with advertisers. Having the support of the public will definitely help them in their crusade against the ad industry.
The below video reached about 1.8 million views on Youtube after just two months thanks to coverage from Time, Huffington Post, Mashable, CNN, Refinery 29 and more. If you have two minutes (and 40 seconds), I urge you to watch this. Pretty powerful stuff.
http://mashable.com/2016/01/26/sexism-advertising-womennotobjects/#jS5G4.QTkPqf
http://time.com/4194269/women-not-objects-advertising-video/
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