Gender Equality Study

The ListeningTube presents Not the Headlines Extra. A group called See Her, whose motto is If you can see her, you can be her, has released a follow-up to a study begun in 2021 when they asked people about their perceptions of gender equality. They asked the questions again in 2023, and the results showed not just a lack of progress, but a reversal of progress. The story says that compared to two years before, the latest respondents reported that those who felt very hopeful about the future of gender equality dropped from 47% in 2021 to just thirty nine percent in 2023. Well, that's not good at all. So what's the cause? The fourth paragraph of the story quotes the chief research officer as saying the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a contributing factor. I can see how that might sway opinion. What the story doesn't mention are some of the other possible reasons for the decline. For example, we now have a Supreme Court justice who refused to define a woman during her confirmation hearings. She claimed she's not a biologist and therefore not qualified to answer the question. Do you think that might have set women back a bit? Insinuating that women are some undefinable blob of flesh and bones? Could the reduced hope for the future of gender equality be somehow linked to women being outperformed by men who identify as women winning sporting events? Now any mediocre man who wants a medal can grow his hair and claim to be a woman. And the governing bodies of the sports worlds are likely to give it their approval for fear of being called out as I don't know normal. What they are is anti women. Transathletes dilute what it is to be a woman and take advantage of them at the same time. They're like parasites who take everything and contribute nothing to the sport. Is it any wonder women feel less hopeful for the future of equality? Well, if women haven't been kicked in the teeth enough lately, here's another reason to be disheartened. This study wasn't done to find ways to help women be treated equally. The CHER organization is a branch of the Association of National Advertisers. This study was done not for your sake, but for the sake of taking advantage of you. The study is done to determine how best to portray women in advertising. The study wasn't done to determine what women's needs are, it was done to determine the needs of the advertisers. Should they avoid stereotypes? Should we show women in traditional men's roles? How can we craft our advertisements to sell more of our products? Back in 2021, just under a third of respondents felt that women were portrayed accurately in the media. That dropped to less than a quarter of respondents in 2023. So that went from bad to worse. Women shouldn't look for any guidance from a study like this one. It wasn't meant for you. It wasn't meant to help the cause of gender equality. The headline Report Perception of Gender Equality has declined since 2021 is certainly a wake-up call for women and marketers. But the report was only done to help the latter avoid leaving money on the table.