Women's Views on News |
- Should brands be riding the ‘fourth wave’?
- Events 12 May – 18 May
- Zero-hours issues for mums and carers
| Should brands be riding the ‘fourth wave’? Posted: 12 May 2014 06:12 AM PDT
Recently a spate of adverts have emerged using variations on a feminist theme to promote their products. But what does that mean for the message? Just look at Dove's efforts to paint itself as the pioneer of women's self-esteem using an FBI sketch artist to remind women others perceive them as more beautiful than they perceive themselves. Their advert has received nearly 63,000,000 hits on Youtube. Earlier this year an American Apparel store in New York put pubic hair wigs on their Valentine's Day display mannequins, causing a Twitterstorm of responses. Sure has released adverts for women's deodorant under the slogan 'unapologetically strong', and has had thousands of views on Youtube and many blog responses. In London this month, Nike is planning its second 10km after-dark run for women, under the slogan 'We Own the Night'. A slogan not just coincidentally reminiscent of the annual women's Reclaim the Night march run by the London Feminist Network since 2004 to promote the idea that women should feel safe in their cities after dark. Ten thousand women are expected to run at Nike's event this year. These forays by big brands into feminist cause-related marketing have appeared on the crest of the so-called 'fourth wave’ of feminism, an online generation of women who identify with feminist ideals. Marketing Magazine even published a piece in March advising businesses how to 'ride the fourth wave' and encouraging them to catch up with the modern female consumer. But how much are brands 'riding the wave' and how much do they really contribute to the cause? The answer, it seems, depends where you sit on the spectrum of corporate cynicism to naivety. Brands are of course taking advantage of pop-feminist messages, recognising that what sells products to many women these days are messages of strength, diversity, empowerment and confidence. Some critics think it is a 'new and improved approach to gender equality, packed with 83 per cent more clichés, 92 per cent more hashtags, and 103 per cent less meaning.’ The 2011 Pink Ribbon Inc. documentary showed the perils of an important message being hijacked by the agenda of big brands. It documented how the Pink Ribbon symbol for breast cancer awareness became the plaything of big brands in the USA, associated illogically – and even hypocritically – with brands such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and cosmetics containing cancer-linked chemicals. The effect was to sanitise and devalue the message. "I think the effect of the whole Pink Ribbon culture was to drain and deflect the kind of militancy we had as women who were appalled to have a disease that is epidemic yet that we don’t even know the cause of," Barbara Ehrenreich, writer and social critic, said in the documentary. And many saw the corporate use of the Pink Ribbon branding as being entirely about profit. "Cause marketing is a phenomenon unique I think to capitalism where a company decides that if they just associate with a cause people care about, the buyers care about, they will increase their sales. "That’s about the bottom line," explained Barbara A Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action San Francisco. Many felt the sanitised and positive message was insulting to those facing the harsh realities of breast cancer, as the focus on pink, pop music and activities to 'beat' or 'survive' cancer left no room for difficult messages of loss, anger and death. "What I found in my research is that many women feel alienated by the overly optimistic approach. They feel like they can’t have their feelings of anger or despair or hopelessness," Dr Samantha King, author of Pink Ribbons Inc.: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, said. "We’re human beings, we’re not just a little pink ribbon," said Maricela Ochoa, a woman with terminal stage four breast cancer. While the corporate use of the Pink Ribbon may have raised awareness; "awareness is different from doing something about it", as Dr Olufunmilayo Olopade, director of the Cancer Risk Clinic, at the University of Chicago, pointed out. Trying to stop women dying of breast cancer is clearly not the same as trying to improve the social, economic and political status of women, but many of the same critiques apply when it comes to how the cause is used by corporations. In both cases brands are predominantly, in most cases entirely, interested in increasing their bottom line; they will try to sanitise and make 'wholesome' a message which is and should be difficult to hear; they will distance themselves from any militant activism, and they will use symbols instead of real women’s experiences, weakening the integrity of the message. However to reach scale, all messages have to go through this process of devaluation to some extent. As Laura Weston, managing director of Iris Worldwide's PR and experiential arm Iris Culture, argues: brands "want to reach as broad an audience as possible, which means dumbed-down brand communication.” So the feminist message, as many messages before it, is undergoing the process of Chinese Whispers; it is becoming subject to corporate agendas; it is falling victim to the marketing and design gurus who orchestrate how we see everything else in this world. Is nothing sacred? Will the truth of the message be obscured, mutated or, worse, re-cast in pink? This is the fatalist end of the spectrum. At the other end is consumer naivety, which sees people buying into things without truly considering the original message. For example those who will run in Nike's 'We Own the Night' without so much as a nod to the 'Reclaim the Night' tradition. However, we can choose to sit somewhere between the fatalism and the naivety. We can be more than resigned cynics and less than Nike-clad runner who has no idea that the slogan on her back is a white-washed version of a symbol that originally fought for the 95 per cent of women who don't feel safe on the streets at night, the 73 per cent who worry about being raped and the almost 50 per cent who say they sometimes don't want to go out because they fear for their own safety. We can welcome the brands which use feminist ideas. Not because they accurately represent them, but because they reach more people and start a bigger conversation about what feminism means to different people. And most importantly, in the age of social media, we can critique where we see them going wrong. Evidence of this critical power includes the successful attempt to get a woman on a bank note, the No More Page 3 protest, and the challenge to Facebook to remove content that portrays rape and violence against women. 'Fourth wave feminism' is here, heralded by hugely influential projects such as Everyday Sexism and Women, Action and the Media. The ‘fourth wave’ is a vehicle for big brands to ride, but it is also, according to one writer, ‘centred around the internet as a medium for protest and activism’. 'Even if women don't embrace the term', Jenny Cornish writes, 'they believe in many feminist attitudes and are keen to adopt the 'naming and shaming' model of calling out sexism where they see it and using the power of the internet to change it.' Therefore while media may dictate a lot to us, we can also use media to express our critiques, and in doing so reclaim some of the integrity of the message. Because of media, feminist ideas and questions are gradually seeping into the cultural references, memes, tube stop walls, and poster-boards that form the backdrop of our lives and as the number of Youtube hits, trends on Twitter, blog posts and Everyday Sexism reports in response to 'feminist' adverts creep up, we can be sure of one thing: people are talking. Therefore, yes we can look at the recent spate of adverts as a hijacking, but we can also notice the thousands, sometimes millions, of responses, which form an equal part of the story.  |
| Posted: 12 May 2014 04:11 AM PDT
Belfast: 15 May: Public Lecture: "Begin Again: Telling Stories as Restitution” in the Upstairs Theatre at the MAC, 10 Exchange Street West, Belfast, BT1 2NJ at 3pm. The Interdisciplinary Research Group 'Art, Performance and Media in (Post-) Conflict Societies' invites you to a public lecture by Professor Anna Reading of Kings College, University of London, on 'Telling Stories as Restitution'. The event is free, but booking is essential: please contact the MAC. Bradford: 12 May: #BringBackOurGirls vigil at The Tryls, Sunbridge Road, Bradford, from 4.3pm. Join Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds for a vigil for the missing Nigerian girls. Wear something red and feel free to bring banners supporting the Bring Back Our Girls campaign. Children welcome. This vigil is women-led but men are welcome to show their support. Please share, Tweet, forward etc. Brighton: 13 May: NGender Conference at University of Sussex, Brighton. NGender has been running as a seminar series during the Spring term at University of Sussex for 5 years, and are pleased to build on this success by launching the first NGender conference. This inaugural conference will bring together gender researchers from throughout the University of Sussex. As well as offering the opportunity for new interdisciplinary links between researchers, this conference aims to promote the diverse, exciting, and original work being carried out in areas relating to sexuality and gender across departments and schools. The conference programme is online now to view, and there's some truly brilliant speakers lined up. A handful of places remain for the conference and registration is now open to anyone, regardless of whether you are a Sussex Postgrad. You can register to attend the NGender conference for free. Edinburgh: 18 May: Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Benefit Gig at The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh from 7.30pm. Edinburgh Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (EWRASAC) provides emotional and practical support, information and advocacy to thousands of survivors of sexual violence in the Edinburgh area. But 75 per cent of EWRASAC’s frontline support and counselling services are currently at serious risk due to funding streams coming to an end on 31 May 2014, however thanks to the generosity and support of the Edinburgh public, the centre has now secured enough donations to continue operating until 30 June 2014. This benefit comedy gig features Vladimir McTavish, Larry Dean, Jay Lafferty, John Gavin, Liam Withnail and host Billy Kirkwood. Tickets £8/ £6. London: 13 May: From the Frontline: Defending Women's Rights from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, at 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ from 7:30 pm. This event is organised by Human Rights Watch. The event will be an opportunity to hear about some of Human Rights Watch's latest work on combating violence against women, promoting gender equality and tackling issues such as child marriage, sexual violence in conflict and the abuse of domestic workers. Join The Guardian's Liz Ford and members of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch in a discussion about their work and the challenges they face in working to protect the rights and improve the lives of women and girls around the world. The panel: Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the women's rights division; Samer Muscati, a researcher for women's rights in emergencies; Rothna Begum, a researcher for women's rights in MENA; Agnes Odhiambo, a researcher for women's rights in Africa and Gauri van Gulik the global advocate in the women's rights division. 16 May: Women's Spaces and Feminist Politics: yesterday, today and tomorrow at Queen Mary University, Mile End Road, London E1, from 9.30am. This one-day conference will explore the role of women's spaces in feminist politics, focusing on women's centres and other women's spaces in the past, present and future. There will be four key sessions: Why "Women Only"? Speakers on the history of women's spaces, lesbian and separatist issues, cultural and religious diversity issues and requirements for women's safety. Women's Spaces past, present and future. A range of speakers looking at Women's Centres that have closed, those that have survived and ideas for new forms for the future. Virtual women's spaces. Speakers from organisations that organise almost exclusively online; benefits and problems. One hour discussion involving all the speakers and audience chaired by Woman's Hour's Jane Garvey, followed by a Networking session. Tickets £38.50/£8.50 which includes vegetarian lunch and tea/coffee throughout the day. Until 31 May: Judith Barry: Cairo Stories at Waterside Contemporary, Clanbury Street, London, N1 This is the first Judith Barry’s solo exhibition at Waterside Contemporary where she presents her project “… Cairo stories” consisting of a video and photographic installation. Cairo stories is a series of short video monologues created from a collection of more than 200 interviews Barry conducted with Cairene women between the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the beginning of the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. The selection of stories chronicles personal experiences of women from a variety of social and economic classes in Egypt and expands the artist’s concerns with notions of representation, history, subjectivity, and translation – particularly as these ideas circulate across cultures. “… Cairo stories” is a continuation of Not reconciled, a series of ‘as told to’ stories Barry recorded in a variety of countries and cultures, and bears witness to the artist’s long-term interest in the strength and the political implications of the voice. Since the Egyptian revolution, the voice – and the right to vote or ability to speak out – has become a central concern in everyday life. The positions of women in the public, political – and private – spheres is also at the forefront of these discussions. Free entry. Northampton: 16 May: Reclaim the Night march meeting at The Co-operative, Wellingborough Road/Barry Road, Northampton, from 9.30pm. With cuts threatening the refuge and rape crisis movements in our country we need to take back the streets of Northampton to demonstrate our support for essential women's services, demand justice for survivors and spread the message that no woman is ever to blame for male violence against her. Remember your placard! All welcome. Oxford: 14 May: Beatrix Campbell on "The End of Equality" at Ruskin College, Dunstan Road, Oxford from 6.30pm Part of the Ruskin Gender Platforms series. There is an assumption going around, an optimistic belief that men and women are on a cultural journey toward equality – in the workplace, on the street, and in the home. But observation and evidence tell us that in many ways this progress has stopped and in some cases, even reversed. Campbell argues that even as patriarchy has lost some of its legitimacy, new inequalities are emerging in our culture. We are living, Campbell writes, in an era of neo-patriarchy in which violence has proliferated; body anxiety and self-hatred have flourished; rape is committed with impunity; sex trafficking thrives, and the struggle for equal pay is at an end. After four decades observing society, Campbell still speaks of the long-sought goal of gender equality. But now she calls for a new revolution. Tickets: free. Swansea: 16 May: Dialogues on Conflict: Feminist Perspectives and Art Practice at the Faculty of Art and Design, at the University of Wales, De La Beche Street, Swansea, from 1pm. This seminar will bring together curators, artists and academics to explore and discuss the frictions and struggles surrounding gender, feminism and activism. Speakers: Helena Reckitt, Emely Neu, Sue Williams, Heather Phillipson and Holly Ingleton. Feminist Perspectives and Art Practice is the first of three seminars in the Dialogue series which aims to focus on a range of themes from the art practice of a selection of shortlisted artists in Artes Mundi 6. Each seminar will bring together a range of speakers, academics, theorists and professionals to touch on and open up discussions. Tickets: £5.  |
| Zero-hours issues for mums and carers Posted: 12 May 2014 01:09 AM PDT
Nonetheless, jobseekers are to lose benefits for three months or more if they refuse to take zero-hours contract roles, a letter from a Conservative Party minister has revealed. For the first time, benefit claimants are at risk of sanctions if they do not apply for and accept certain zero-hours jobs under the new Universal Credit system, despite fears that such contracts are increasingly tying workers into insecure and low paid employment. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed recently that the number of contracts that do not guarantee minimum hours of work or pay but require workers to be on standby had reached 1.4 million. Currently, people claiming jobseekers’ allowance are not required to apply for zero-hours contract vacancies and they do not face penalties for turning them down. However, this change in policy under universal credit was revealed in a letter from Esther McVey, an employment minister, to Labour MP Sheila Gilmore, who had raised the issue of sanctions with McVey. Downing Street confirmed that, under the new system, Job Centre “coaches” would be able to “mandate to zero-hours contracts”, although they would have discretion about considering whether a role was suitable. Labour has promised to crack down on abuses of zero-hours contracts; Labour leader Ed Miliband said their use has reached “epidemic” proportions in some industries. He said he wanted to see workers with irregular shifts and pay getting a contract with fixed hours if they have worked regularly for the same employer for a year. A year. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has also expressed worry that zero-hours contracts are “no longer confined to the fringe of the job market”. The TUC’s General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: "Employers like to argue that zero-hours contracts offer flexibility but for many workers they mean poverty pay and no way of knowing how often they'll be working from one week to the next. "Replacing vulnerable zero-hours contracts with more secure employment will be a key test of whether this recovery is reaching hard-pressed workers. "In the meantime, the government should legislate to prevent the abuse of zero-hours contracts by bad employers." The TUC has expressed concern over the main drivers behind the increased use of zero hours contracts. Employers are only required to pay zero hour contract workers for the time they actually work, and are under no obligation to pay an individual who turns up for the start of a shift but is not offered work. Employers use zero-hours contracts to evade employment law obligations, including paid family related leave and job security rights. This, Trade Unions point out, enables employers to reduce costs including by laying off staff at short notice and avoiding redundancy payments. Cuts in public spending, increased privatisation of public services and the government's approach to commissioning public services have also fuelled the increase in zero-hours contracts. There has been a shift away from block purchasing, for example of a set number of hours, to more flexible framework agreements under which service providers are paid for activity and outcomes. There is also the need to recognise or address the main abuses experienced by zero hours workers: low pay; income insecurity; under-employment; the impact on families; the absence of employment rights; abuse at work and difficulties with accessing benefits. Labour MP Rachel Reeves, the shadow work and pensions secretary, called on the government to clarify its position, as ministers had previously said jobseekers would face no penalties if they did not take zero-hours roles. Reeves told the BBC: “People are able to take zero-hours contract jobs but that should be their choice. “They shouldn’t as a parent or somebody with caring responsibilities be forced into taking a job that you just can’t do, that you can’t match with the responsibilities that you’ve got as a mum or a dad or a carer. “The government need to answer some questions pretty quickly about who exactly is at risk of losing their benefits for refusing to take a zero-hours contract job. “The government need to do much more to tackle the exploitation of workers on these contacts, rather than encourage the growth of them.” And Labour’s Sheila Gilmore said: “I also fear that if people are required to take jobs with zero-hours contracts, they could be prevented from taking training courses or applying for other jobs that might lead to more stable and sustainable employment in the long term.” More than one in 10 employers are using such contracts, which are most likely to be offered to women, young people and over-65s. The figure rises to almost half of all employers in the tourism, catering and food sector.  |
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