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http://www.un-instraw.org/en/media-center/world-gender-news/european-union-calls-for-less-gender-stereotyping-in-advert.html

European Union Calls for Less Gender Stereotyping in Advertising

17 September 2008

On Tuesday, September 3, 2008, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted overwhelmingly in support of a report about the effects of marketing on gender equality and gender stereotyping. The report, drafted by Swedish MEP Eva Britt-Svensson and prepared by the EU Women’s Rights Commission, was approved with 504 votes in favor, 110 against and 22 abstentions. 

Non-legally binding, the report will be used to help draft new EU legislation. It calls on the media to set better examples in relation to a gender perspective. The report states that much of the gender stereotyping in advertisements is meant for financial gain. It also takes the stance that the portrayal of an ideal body type has negative effects on the self-esteem of both men and women.  As a result, recommendations in the report include using more realistic images of female bodies and viewing sexist insults directed at both men and women with more institutional awareness. On a policy level, it calls for EU countries to monitor how gender is portrayed in advertising as well as for EU institutions to monitor the progress of existing laws on sex discrimination.

The EU report shows that the challenge of dispelling gender stereotypes cannot be faced with out addressing the role of the media.

Learn more about the EU Parliament and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

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9/03/08

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,576117,00.html

GETTING RID OF GENDER STEREOTYPES

EU Parliament Calls for Less Sexism in Advertising

Members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a report which calls on advertisers to stop portraying men and women in tradition gender roles.

CORBIS

MEPs want to see fewer housewives in advertising.

European lawmakers are concerned that the way women and men are portrayed in marketing and advertising is making it more difficult to dispell old-fashioned ideas of traditional gender roles.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday adopted a new report that calls on member states to make a greater effort to monitor how gender is portrayed in advertising. Constant images of women in the kitchen while men clean their cars outside are reinforcing sexist stereotypes, the study argues.

The non-legally binding report, which was drafted by Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, also calls on EU institutions to monitor the implementation of existing European laws on sex discrimination.

"MEPs call on the EU institutions and member states to develop awareness actions against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in advertising and marketing," the lawmakers said in a statement after adopting the report by 504 votes in favor, 110 against and 22 abstentions.

The report also called on the media and advertising to set good examples from a gender perspective.

Before the vote, Svensson told the German news agency DPA that people are often not aware of how much they are influenced by advertising. "When women and men are portrayed in a stereotypical way the consequence may be that it becomes difficult in other contexts to see women and men's resources and abilities in areas other than those of the traditional gender roles."

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