By Ann Clurman and Kaley Mullin
Charting women’s aspirations, transformations, satisfactions – and dissatisfactions – is a significant and ongoing focus of The Futures Company. “Capturing Our Imagination” is a new channel for sharing with you a cultural development we find intriguing and important. Spearheading this effort are Ann Clurman, EVP and Kaley Mullin, Consultant.
In 2013, as part of our ongoing Future Perspective Series, The Futures Company published “Women in 2020: How women’s actions and expectations are changing the future.” Rather than take an all-too-familiar view of how social and economic conditions exert changes on women’s roles and identities, Women in 2020 flipped that approach, exploring how women themselves act as catalysts for fundamental changes that shape their world … and everybody else’s as well.
Following this thread, “Enough is Enough” highlights some notable, even remarkable, pushbacks by women against the status quo. There’s evidence across the globe and across lifestage that many women have reached their boiling point. As this attitude gains traction and women galvanize their peers in thought and action, they will expect institutions, companies and brands to play a role as well. In many cultures, women—and men—have come to expect brands to take a stand on issues and to join even the most controversial conversations.
Brands, of course, need to consider with care the appropriate magnitude and volume of their voice as they enter the discussion. As more brands make their stances known, they must also weigh the downside of silence and assess where, when and how to show their beliefs.
Irrespective of a brand’s decision whether to take a stand, it’s imperative that marketers understand that, for many women, realities once perceived as unfair are now seen as intolerable, and situations once called unfortunate are now deemed inexcusable. In other words, enough is enough.
1.) No More Street Harassment (New York)
It’s no longer surprising to hear that #YesAllWomen have been catcalled at some point in their lives. But rather than accept it as benign or as a compliment, many women are fed up. Urban women everywhere, particularly in New York City, have been gathering behind initiatives to educate people about the dangers of street harassment and to stop it entirely. The most prominent discussions around this issue came after this video of a modestly dressed woman getting repeatedly catcalled went viral. From communities like Hollaback! mapping out incidents of street harassment to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daughter selling T-shirts with the hashtag #stopsexualASSault, women have had enough and are fighting to take back the streets.
2.) No More Complicit Consent (Ontario, Canada)
In a climate where 1 in 4 Canadian women experience at least one incident of sexual assault in their lifetimes, two junior-high girls decided to push for change. After learning that the Ontario health curriculum was being updated, Toronto eighth-graders Tessa Hill and Lia Valente pressed the province’s Ministry of Education to include a discussion of affirmative consent in high school sex-ed classes. And their call was heard. After tweeting that the girls’ campaign was important, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that consent would be added to the updated curriculum.
3. No More Invisible Women (Arab Region / Afghanistan)
On the heels of Malala Yousafzai becoming the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, women and girls in the Arab world are coming together to demand more. Women now make up more than half of the student body across the Arab world, a proportion which will likely continue to grow. And rather than being relegated to the more traditionally feminine subjects, Arab universities are encouraging women more than ever before to enroll in STEM fields. In addition to universities, independent projects like the Afghan Women’s Writing Project are supporting women’s educational ambitions. The AWWP encourages “Afghan women to have a direct voice in the world, not filtered through male relatives or members of the media.” Through initiatives like this, it’s clear that women in this part of the world have had enough of being silenced and suppressed and are pushing for their voices to be heard.
4. No More Red-Carpet Objectification (Hollywood)
From Cate Blanchett calling out a cameraman for panning down her dress to Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore rejecting E!’s “mani-cam,” some female celebrities have had enough. Rather than standing for more inane “who are you wearing?” questions by the Ryan Seacrests of the world, savvy celebs are pushing back. And slowly, the media is starting to listen—or at least one news outlet is. Responding to The Representation Project’s campaign to #AskHerMore, The Daily Share recently compiled a montage of celebrities answering questions like “What inspires you?”, “What have you learned from your character?” and “What female character would be your dream role?” While these questions may be the exception to the rule for now, it may not be long before more stars join the campaign to #AskHerMore.
5. No More Domestic Violence (New York, NY)
After an embattled season of bad press and questionable decisions around issues of domestic violence, the NFL released a Super Bowl ad to raise awareness and make amends. The striking commercial captured a real-life call to a 911 dispatcher by a woman being threatened in her home. The ad is part of a larger campaign titled “No More” which seeks to raise awareness of domestic violence. While it’s unclear what impact the commercial or the organization will have on helping curb domestic abuse or helping to repair the NFL’s tarnished reputation, it is clear that women refuse to continue to take the NFL’s lenient policies lying down.
6. No More Judgement (U.S.A.)
Similac, makers of the top baby formula in the U.S., recently released a hugely-popular ad campaign that pokes fun at judgmental parents. The “funny because it’s true” commercial pits factions of parents (breastfeeders, lesbian moms, working moms, etc.) against each other in an all-out grudge match to find out whose parenting techniques reign supreme. The commercial ends on a sweet note, however, with all of the parents coming together to save a baby in danger. The commercial strikes a powerful chord precisely because women are feeling the effects of the rampant culture of judgment between and among parents. Similac’s on-target campaign captured exactly how many mothers are feeling: fed up! The message here is clear, with mothers saying “Enough is enough. Stop judging my parenting!”
7. No More Excuses (Turkey)
It’s not just women agitating for gender equality. In Turkey, men have recently taken to the streets to protest the sexual assault and murder of 20-year-old Özgecan Aslan. In a show of solidarity, Turkish men are wearing miniskirts to express that women’s clothing choices do not excuse sexual violence. The skirt-clad protesters are just a small part of the larger grassroots effort to push Turkey’s government to act against sexual violence. Both men and women across Turkey are expressing frustration over their government’s ineffectual response to sexual assault and are pushing for change, but few are doing it in quite so spectacular a fashion.
Questions about what you’ve just read? Contact our Global Knowledge Lead on women, Ann Clurman.
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