Over the last few years I’ve seen a growing number of commercials using STEM to promote, advertise or to attempt to show their product in a good light around this issue.
The importance of this only grows, as we see an ‘insurgence’ of right-wing, conservative policies and politics trying to rescind, rewind & damage what has been described as the liberal approach of those on the left.
The success of these campaigns / adverts / commercials have varied from, nondescript, to the right idea but just no. And then there are those who get it really right without even trying.
Examples of nondescript I can’t give you. Given by the very description they flagged on my radar but then promptly disappeared without a further thought. As such from both a promotional and supportive of piece of work. It is probably fair to say that these adverts failed in any one of their messages that they are trying to achieve.
However, there are those that are successful but just no. A recent one which has the right idea but fails because of use of language is the EDF advert.
Now don’t get me wrong the idea is brilliant, but what annoys me about it -is it sexualises girls and women first. This is what we constantly struggle with – what we look like first and then brains second. A simple switch of saying I am determined and pretty, or inventive and pretty would have had a very different outcome.
Now don’t get me wrong I understand why it has been done this way as it works from a sentence structure point of view and for the message it is trying to get across. But the image and the language still portrays us has beauty first and then brains. And although the message is conveyed, we are still represented as an object i.e. something to be desired and then a tool, i.e. something that could bring value. Now I know my choice of words here are not ideal but I wanted to highlight the importance of word usage when portraying a story or a requirement.
Recent reports have strengthened the above ideology where children as young as 6 are seeing the idea of being really smart as a boy trait and not that of a girl. As such the above advert only serves to compound the problem found in the attached report.
Excellence and brilliance resides in both sexes not just one over the other. But repeatedly boys are bolstered to be seen as brilliant and girls something less. Just recently at work I was described as bossy. Now don’t get me wrong I know I can be demanding, and challenging and if that is bossy then yes bossy. However, my simple question to my colleague was, would you say the same thing to a man if he had repeated the words I had. There was silence. My response was, I take that silence as no. I then asked not to be referred to as bossy as he was demeaning my leadership skills by doing so and I challenged him to think about the words he uses against his male and female colleagues. I said to him: “Conscious or not your bias is coming through and I challenge you to re-think the use of such language in future.” The rest of the meeting went without a problem. However, like most people when questioned on their bias, they are not aware it exists until it is pointed out to them.
For me the advert that got it right without trying was the Virgin Broadband advert:
A young girl with her mum watching women achieve amazing things. Things that at such an impressionable might seem unachievable and unbelievable. A notion that a woman can be brilliant in her chosen field and career if she only believes in herself.
The notion of commercialising STEM has also taken a step up as more and more movies are coming to light around the role of Women in STEM and showing that challenging the Status Quo is not a current or recent fight. This is a fight that has been going on for decades. One only needs to look to the movie Hidden Figures to see how the next steps of commercialising STEM are being filtered into front and centre of our thoughts. Showing what can be achieved when men stand side by side with men and not competing for a place at the table with them
My challenge to you is to take your role front and centre and stand side by side with the men in your workplace and create an equal place for you both to stand together and be together to create awesome things
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