@OBJECTUPDATE

ROZ HARDIE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, OBJECT

Dapper Laughs

PETER KAY and £150K WOMEN’S AID FUNDRAISER

.............NOT PART OF THE MEDIA NARRATIVE

Today

What is sexual objectification?

Media portrayal of working class women

Campaigning for better representation

JEAN KILBOURN QUOTE

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CONTEXT One in five women has experienced some

form of sexual violence since the age of 16

Approximately 85,000 women are raped and over 400,000 women are sexually assaulted in England and Wales every year

.

Media sexism helps shape public attitudes

"The media creates, reflects and enforces attitudes in society. Those who work

in the media should be conscious of this and

should actively seek not to reproduce attitudes

which condone violence against women or girls.“

Marai Larasi

Co-Chair, End Violence Against Women Coalition, Leveson Inquiry

Object and partners gave evidence to Leveson

IDENTIFYING SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION THE CHIPS TEST?

COMMODITY

HARMED

INTERCHANGEABLE

PARTS

STAND IN

Weekend Sport – on display approx 10 cm from ground outdoors on main street

COMMODITY DOES THE IMAGE SHOW A SEXUALISED PERSON AS A COMMODITY, FOR EXAMPLE, AS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BOUGHT AND SOLD?

Advert for

shoes

HARMED: DOES THE IMAGE SHOW A SEXUALISED PERSON BEING HARMED, FOR EXAMPLE, BEING VIOLATED OR UNABLE TO GIVE CONSENT?

Billboards in Hackney 2014 for a club and in Southern Italy for cleaning products

INTERCHANGEABLE: DOES THE IMAGE SHOW A SEXUALISED PERSON AS INTERCHANGEABLE, FOR EXAMPLE, A COLLECTION OF SIMILAR BODIES?

Daily Star: Win a date with a Page 3 competition - 2015

PARTS DOES THE IMAGE SHOW A SEXUALISED PERSON AS BODY PARTS, FOR EXAMPLE, A HUMAN REDUCED TO BREASTS OR BUTTOCKS?

Pot Noodle – 2014 World Cup Promotion

STAND-IN: DOES THE IMAGE PRESENT A PERSON AS A STAND-IN FOR AN OBJECT, FOR EXAMPLE, A HUMAN BODY USED AS A CHAIR OR A TABLE?

Advert for ‘Naked Sushi’ – Spearmint Rhino, Camden, Currently on social media

WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM

BUYING STUFF WE DON’T NEED (INADEQUACY MARKETING)

UNREALISTIC BODY IDEALS

RACIST STEREOTYPES (E.G. BRAZILIANS HYPER-SEXUALISED)

MINIMISING SEXUAL VIOLENCE (E.G. ALLEGATIONS ABOUT TERRY RICHARDS AS HARASSER)

IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID

DEHUMANISING

WOMEN NOT SHOWN AS ACHIEVING IN SPHERES OTHER THAN BEAUTY

NOT A NEW PHENOMENON

Saartje Baartman exhibited and promoted as a freak show in London in early 19th Century Europe

MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF TRANS WOMEN PARTICULARY INSIDIOUS

Identification where not relevant, ignoring Gender Recognition Act

Intrusive levels of detail about personal issues and coverage of “non stories”

Can have tragic consequences e.g. Lucy Meadows’ suicide after “sensational and salacious media coverage

Dr Kate Stone who nearly died after being attacked by a stag.

PORTRAYAL OF WORKING CLASS WOMEN

“Gross, overly sexed, untamed, crude, and deserving of sexual exploitation and aggression”

A 2006 survey by YouGov suggested 70% of TV industry professionals believed that Vicky Pollard was an accurate reflection of white working class youth.

Benefit fraud poster, Department of Work and Pensions

PORTRAYAL OF FEMINIST CAMPAIGNS AS MILLIE TANT VS SID THE

SEXIST

FRAMING THE DEBATE

Mainstream media frequently follow a script which portrays anti-sexism campaigners as largely white, middle class women, often with a focus on the culture and taste of working class men.

No evidence that working class men more sexist than men as a group in general or of working class culture disproportionately targeted

This misrepresentation erases the voices of many campaigners, and unrealistically portrays the target ignoring the multi-billion pound/ dollar industry towards individual consumers.

DEBATE IS ABOUT BIG BUSINESS

RICHARD DESMOND, WORTH £1.2 BILLION, SUNDAY TIMES RICH LIST 2014

RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT NORTHERN & SHELL

Campaiging on the Sun has focussed on portrayal of women

But aware portrayal of other groups also

problematic

CAMPAIGNING FOR BETTER REPRESENTATION LOSE THE LADS MAGS

PEOPLE POWER WORKS - KENNETH COLE TWEET IN “CASE STUDIES” FOR PUBLIC CAN RECLAIM NARRATIVE

PADDY POWER AD GOT 5.5K COMPLAINTS

LOTS OF PEOPLE

ARE CONCERNED

ABOUT PORN AND

MEDIA SEXISM

ABOUT.ME/ROZHARDIE