Marketing and Feminism

Introduction

Marketing and feminism gravitate in two different, yet allied fields. Therefore, they have often intersected. One such instance was when issues arose while segmenting consumers according to the binary genders and stereotypical gender assumptions that made women inferior to men were made. (Catterall, Maclaran & Stevens, 2013) Throughout time, marketing campaigns that utilized women as mere objects evoked. In light of the situation, many feminists have pointed out the ill-portrayal of women in advertisements, the illusion of feminism in organizations which is erroneously crafted and the problematic nature of them. Marketing has the ability to create normality as many women try to identify with similar figures around them. As this could potentially inflict psychological damage upon women and limit them to a stereotypical role, marketers have been accused as the causers of this situation and not conducting their duties responsibly. Consumers have even gone on to boycott brands that have communicated anti-feminist norms with them and many organizations have gone out of business because of such marketing campaigns. Therefore, a pressing need for marketers to further educate themselves regarding feminism based marketing has arisen at recent times.

Review of Literature

(Maclaran, 2015) Eloquently summarizes the four waves of feminism and their intersection with the marketing sphere. The first wave of feminism emanated in the 1850’s was driven by individuals such as Elizabeth Cady and Amelia Bloomer who believed that marketing was serviceable and could be used to create awareness regarding the movement. This is evident in Cady’s Fairy Soap advertisement. Conversely, the second wave of feminism was caused by many things including sexist marketing campaigns by brands such as Van Heusen and Mr. Leggs in the 1950s and 1960s. The succeeding movement that occurred in the 1990s elevated the topic’s popularity and relevance in many fields including marketing. It gave rise to many campaigns that aimed to empower women and break free from female stereotypes. This era saw the birth of “femvertizing”, feminism harnessed in advertising, (Dan, 2018) the bandwagon many marketers jumped on. The most recent wave of feminism was predominately driven by the internet, which accommodated many women and men alike to manifest their thoughts on women’s portrayal in marketing campaigns. 
Upon thoroughly discussing the aforementioned four movements, (Maclaran, 2015) states that many components of marketing can benefit from feminist theorizations and states that it should be used more frequently.

In like manner, (Hearn & Hein, 2015) elucidates the impression that the root causation for the anti-feminist portrayal of women in advertising and such is feminist theorizations being overlooked, and similarly suggests that feminist theorization should be used more frequently in the marketing sphere. The basic knowledge provided in feminist knowledge could undoubtedly provide marketers with the guidelines to what is and is not acceptable in the portrayal of women. Upon observation, at recent times, advertisements done by recognized marketing firms have sparked much negative reception towards the Sri Lankan marketing community. Therefore, it is evident that the conclusion proposed, feminist theory needs to be more abundantly used in marketing, is true in the sense that it would avoid the backlash received by anti-feminist advertisements as they would be more favourably crafted.

(Hearn & Hein, 2015) also go on to discuss the causations of the issues that have arisen by the incorrect harnessing of feminism in marketing. The first, is the key focus of marketing campaigns gravitating around empowering women have seldom been empowering woman. It has been increasing brand awareness and revenue. The second, is the disproportionate spread of gender power in societies worldwide. The third, is the gender assumptions made while segmenting consumers.

To criticize the aforementioned causations presented, the first is evidently true; as a marketer’s goal in crafting a campaign is undoubtedly achieving the sales objectives set by the organization. Therefore, marketers would use material that they believe would create awareness about the product they are selling and the concerns about the ethical nature of the content would only be a secondary concern. one of the most condemned femvertizing campaigns up to date,
The second is a principle has been so since ancient times; women were limited to their home making role. The third reason, is the primary cause of gender based stereotype advertising. While segmenting consumers according to the gender demographic, marketers have used the fundamental male and female categories. By viewing these genders as polar opposites, many products were marketed differently to the two genders. However, gender has expanded its limitations in the contemporary world and it should instead be viewed as a spectrum because it is difficult to make distinctions between genders. If this was taken into account, problematic stereotypical portrayal of women in advertising would be inexistent.

Figure A- Source: www.glennhorowitz.com/images/made/images/dobkin/4657989%20Stanton_225_317.jpg

Figure B - Source: https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2011/07/Wear-a-tie-in-bed.jpeg

Figure C – Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxNYCxIedTD97gv0mQDS-pyi3BqwbTeogyN1IefM9LTwX8tfG8QTDxVuk0hoANTppQLSN-RaAwJBCwsB-VNYiyzHgm3eKh3XqiATyQHBapMXAC_eGzp9rbN55Y7jlSna1ytvG4BUF8tyqH/s1600/Image+1_The+F+Word.jpg

Figure D – Source: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/9241/production/_99714473_banner_barrel.jpg

Conclusion and Implications for Marketers

Evidently, fully mobilizing feminism in advertising must not be the answer. There are many pre-requisites that must be in place before such a decision is made. To name a few,

·       Marketers should thoroughly contemplate attaching their brand to things that are of much greater value and importance to society such as people’s rights and religious and racial beliefs.

·       A brand should only use feminist theorizations in a marketing campaign if empowering women is their bottom line, and such campaigns should be enacted by marketers who are familiar with feminism or better yet, are feminists.

·       Organizations must also earn the credibility use feminist marketing tactics by equally employing men and women in the workplace, equally paying men and women and training employees to overcome bias towards males. Organizations may only receive positive comments about the portrayal of women in marketing campaigns if they are consistent throughout.

Organizations can exploit or liberate women through their way of portraying women in their marketing campaigns. If an organization chooses the initial option, it is best to not intersect feminism in their marketing campaigns and avoid becoming problematic in the marketing community.

Articles Reviewed

Maclaran, P. (2015). Feminism’s fourth wave: a research agenda for marketing and consumer research. Journal Of Marketing Management, 31(15-16), 1732-1738. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2015.1076497

Hearn, J., & Hein, W. (2015). Reframing gender and feminist knowledge construction in marketing and consumer research: missing feminisms and the case of men and masculinities. Journal Of Marketing Management, 31(15-16), 1626-1651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2015.1068835

Works Cited

Dan, A. (2018). Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2017/05/11/dove-invented-femvertising-but-its-latest-stunt-didnt-wash-with-consumers/#7691681156b6

Catterall, M., Maclaran, P., & Stevens, L. (2013). Marketing and Feminism. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.