Redefining gender disparity syndrome in advertising space
By Felicia Nwosu
Over the years, the advertising space has witnessed a lot of gender stereotypes or bias in its various operations and practices. Recently, a foreign report had shown a number of women in the advertising landscape complain of how advertising agency life demarcates brand allocation on the basis of gender. They also insinuated that many creative departments are more like male fraternities housed in agencies that have more men’s names than women on the door. Many pointed out that agencies consciously assigned creative jobs to women only when it has to do with feminine products, while jobs that pertain to oil and gas, engineering and many others are given to the male counterparts.
In order to break the ‘glass ceiling effect’, the advertising scene has witnessed a massive entry of women in various labour markets, with the intention to play major role in the expansion and reconfiguration of the professions assumed to be exclusively reserved for the male folk. Despite all these, women are still experiencing persistent inequalities in income, promotion opportunities, career patterns, and access to leadership positions, popularized by the metaphor of the “glass ceiling” effect.
To further buttress the point, according to a report by (Bosman, 2005), many award shows had either all-male juries or one or two token women. It wasn’t until 2004 that the chairman of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival mandated that women should have at least 25 percent of the judging positions, after decades of heavily male or all-male juries (Bosman, 2005).
For this reason, people from all walks of life are boldly raising their voices against inequality, adding that eradication of inequality strengthens economies and builds stable, resilient societies that give all individuals, including girls and women the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
Reacting to the report, creative guru, Steve Babaeko, President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and CEO of X3M Ideas, noted that he is not aware if such is happening here in Nigeria. He, however, reaffirmed his commitment to seeing women move to the top ladder of leadership.
His words: “One thing I can tell you is that part of my corner piece agenda as President of AAAN is to make sure we do more gender-balancing in the operation of our association. Given how agencies operate, you see more women at the lower cadre, but once the status rises to the management level, then more women start to drop off.”
The AAAN president stated that those who refuse to give women equal opportunity on the basis of marriage and maternal reasons are doing so as mere excuses, noting that such is not good enough.
Speaking further, he said: “We came with a deliberate agenda to make sure that we create equity in that space, by allowing model women to ascend to that leadership position in the advertising industry. For example, the current director for AAAN is the first woman to assume that position in 50 years history of the association. We have pushed the number of women on the board of AAAN to increase the slot for women.”
The creative icon further emphasised that it is not a matter to fervently abuse or pay lip service to, adding that, as a nation, the country is robbing itself of important contribution from a very important population segment of the county.
The chief creative officer of X3M Ideas reaffirmed his resolve to the cause of equity and equality. “This is not even like any kind of affirmative action, it’s a deliberate believe of mine that women have something very important to contribute, and no matter what, that desire of creating that fairness and platform for them to occupy their rightful place is the essence of everything. Those are the thing that we are deliberately pushing, and as long as I remain president, we will continue to push those agenda.”
Bunmi Oke, the CEO of Ladybird Ltd, in the same vein, emphasized on education as a powerful tool for women development. She encouraged parents to empower their female children while charging women to hone their skills to enable them have equitable position with their male counterparts across the globe.
According to her, the onus lies on the women to get empowered as a value addition to enable them standout. Hear her: “The gender issue is a human right issue, whether a woman is educated or not she has an impactful role to play wherever she finds herself. Women should be allowed to showcase their talents and creativity in all facets of life. Professionalism has nothing to do with gender, which is why there are various female associations for women.”
Rosemary Akpo, Managing Director of EXP Marketing, a pioneer experiential marketing agency, both in Nigeria and Africa, in her own view, urged women to get empowered through education and other skills acquisition. Mrs. Akpo charged them to engage in various capacity building to enable them aim for the best.
She reiterated that the glass preventing women to excel in every facet of life needs to be broken for them to be seen and move to the next level. The EXP Nigeria MD noted that gender bias exists in every facet of life, and like a glass barrier, she insisted it must be broken for the next generation to avert encountering such bias. She implored women to work towards credibility that is worthy to earn them the positions they deserve.
“There is always a circle of influence against women; we are not competing with the men in any way. Let us work towards credibility, integrity and reliability. Our recognition should be based on hard work, not because of our gender. Let’s position ourselves to get the position we deserve, where there won’t be any doubt against a woman’s appointment or promotion.”
The marketing expert cautioned that denial to people’s freedom to choose their path in life because of their gender prevents them from fulfilling their full potential. There are lots the society can do to help build a more gender-equal world. Understanding the deep roots of gender inequality and challenging discrimination wherever they exist are the first steps.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.