Professional Documents
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Gender
Report
Attitudes to gender are moving faster
than ever. Whats driving this shift,
where is it going and what does this
more gender-fluid future look like?
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Beyond Gender
Will the future be more
gender-fluid?
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Androgynous Zones
Men and Womenswear collections
are a thing of the past
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New Feminists
The new generation
fighting for gender equality
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Mind The Gap
Challenging the notion
of gendered jobs
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Sexless Sells
Advertising tropes are catching
up with the 21st century
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The Gender Issue
Gendered media is getting
a much-needed facelift
Beyond Gender
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79%
Protein Gender Survey: 63% of females and
59%
63%
69%
Were seeing the first generation who grew up learning the stuff
and they thought: This could be fun! But this cutting-edge front
seeing the slow but steady erosion of some gender customs and
Blurred Lines
entire generation.
thing its for the everyday Joe. Going beyond mens moisturiser,
2015 Psych Rock collection for Saint Laurent. (See our unisex
Tom Fords and Marc Jacobss mens beauty collections (the latter
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G Is For Gender
As the waves of progress wash forward, our best hopes
lie, perhaps, in educating future generations, and providing
developing minds.
to dealing with more than two genders, she says. The people
who are moving away from the binary are still outlaws. Theyre
still shunned, even in the most liberal, urban centres. After Ohio
consider how this half of our society may create spaces for
unisex toilets last year to, the headteacher said, prevent any
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70%
67%
83%
Gender Evolution
Despite changing assumptions of gender, and ever-louder voices
%
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calling for equal treatment of men, women and, yes, the rest
of us, gender inequality remains rife. Indeed, our survey found
that most people (83% of women and 76% of men) do not
Internationally, the gender pay gap still exists, even in the most
Consumers can be powerful
mechanisms for change,
rewarding companies, for
example, that depict men
and women in advertising
in ways that are both
appealing and responsible
On a personal level, the more my wife and I can see each other
as partners outside of gender dynamics, the happier weve been,
and the happier our family has been as a whole. But were still
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Androgynous Zones
Words by Charlotte Philby
items originally intended for the opposite sex. Just look at the
The clean shapes and more
minimalist approach to
dressing which is bubbling
through the industry
have relaxed traditional
dressing rules
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youll now see young straight men even boys without much
duffel coats, wool blazers and baseball jackets and cut them to fit
feminine silhouettes.
Weve been brought up in cultures where the men are strong
models are shot with their backs to the camera to keep their
gender unknown.
and curves, reflecting what has defined femininity. But not all
and minimalist.
who produces unisex clothing under her brand Howl, says her
Its not about gender any more, its about how you feel as a
would have been unthinkable even five years ago. Its huge that
the biggest rappers have come out and said its ok to be gay.
show, says Glck. I get orders from women for clothing worn by
by female models.
the past few seasons, he says. Girls have embraced the grunge
looking to buy into any kind of genderless trend; they look beyond
and Stan Smiths have become staple items in both mens and
womens wardrobes.
Meadham Kirchhoff.
womens areas are split and often our customer may not even
trickle into the high street over the next few seasons, says
genderless trend
larger brands are cottoning onto this new zeitgeist. In the UK,
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New Feminists
Words by Bertie Brandes
Photos by Teska Overbeeke (opposite) and Viv Vadoliya
Empowered by the
possibilities presented
by the internet, a wave
of passionate young
feminists are making
strides towards a more
equal society
that matter to this group, social media and other digital tools
media they can create their own content and make a noise that
Social media has made it easier than ever to talk about an issue,
Its also now easier to take part in a debate from a digital device.
A lot of mainstream porn
has become frozen. It cant
surprise people anymore
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collects all the top feminist trends and tweets. Hashtags can
the freedom to share ideas and engage online, there is also the
form on Tumblr, where people can curate a feed much like a diary
of constant sharing.
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One hundred years from
now, well be able to
pinpoint a moment in time
when feminists organised,
resisted, and told
stories
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Cuntry Living
Feminist zine Cuntry Living began life as a small
Hysteria
productive.
and to give them the chance to have their voices heard. In return,
As long as the internet and social media remain open tools for
our periodical.
Tumblr is creating a
feminist aesthetic that is
recognisable and accessible
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Career Inequality
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talented women aiming for top jobs. If men in our workplaces are
inherently biased towards taking their lead from the men in their
gaming industries.
(senior management).
But the tide is beginning to turn. The G20 summit has stated
that womens participation in the workforce is the biggest
add 10% (150bn) to its GDP by 2030 if all the women who
will result in the growth of our business and help us reach our
science and maths less as boys subjects and more as life skills.
Fortune 500 companies
with three or more female
directors saw at least
a 66% increase in return
on invested capital
boys, and this trend, if it continues, augurs well for women in the
STEM-led future.
What else does this mean for the future? Research suggests
we have the best talent who are giving the best solutions. They
to work together to finally close the gender gap at work. But the
2004 and 2012 (although the gain was built on a very low initial
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Sexless Sells
Words by Shepherd Laughlin
Illustrations by Anthony Zinonos
Gender Positive
Super Bowl 2014 was far from a definitive break from sexism,
and despite its coy attempt at objectifying men, the GoDaddy
ad still came in for its share of feminist criticism. But brands did
seem to be recognising that football doesnt necessarily mean
frat boys. Indeed, Nielsen demographic data shows that 46% of
Super Bowl viewers are female. More women watch this macho
sporting event than the Grammys, Oscars and Emmys combined.
At $4m for a 30-second spot, how can brands continue to justify
alienating half their potential customers?
Advertisers are waking up to the fact that their stereotypes for
whos watching what arent true, says Lisa Wade, a specialist in
were seeing the very rare but striking example of a man doing
sexist advertising all too often slips under the radar as cultural
background noise.
But this wasnt the case at the Super Bowl in 2012. During the
event, which sees many viewers tune in more for the advertising
could stave off hunger and save men from their inner buffoons.
and that they vote with their dollars. The group encouraged
felt like a lot less women were coming on that journey with me.
platforms any time they wanted to talk back to a sexist ad. This
that 75% of men said they were responsible for their childrens
emotional well-being, while only 13% said they felt the media
registrar that had become known for the particularly flagrant use
Thanks to social
media, people have a
voice to express their
expectations that they
want to see faces and
bodies like theirs in
visual culture
and factories, while men are seen caring for children. Although
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Feminism 4.0
One way to view these shifts in advertising is as a response to a
larger groundswell of feminist activism. We explore the grassroots
of this movement in our New Feminists story on page 14.
These digital feminists are now increasingly holding brands
accountable for any missteps. Just as a well-placed hashtag can
cause an immediate spike in online conversations around a brand,
consumers are now able to offer real-time bursts of criticism when
brands resort to sexism to sell a product. In the journal Feminist
Media Studies, University of Pennsylvania scholar Rosemary Clark
writes that social media allows feminist politics to become more
personal. Tools such as the #NotBuyingIt app, she argues, allow
users to instantly connect their personal feelings of frustration to
a larger global movement.
When brands offend these activists, the conversation can
There is still a lot of
discomfort when it comes
to dealing with more
than two genders
Progress Or Diversity?
rapidly, but they are only part of a broader industry trend toward
wakes in horror when he feels his girlfriends leg stubble. She sits
attractive women who pass by. Just when we think were seeing
their expectations that they see faces and bodies like theirs in
way the idea that the world is made up of many different kinds of
big outcry and it got pulled, says Holder. The brand was
people, who come in all different shapes and sizes and genders
Gender-Fluid Branding
Lisa Wade compares this to the rapid shift in attitudes toward gay
found that only 19% of British mothers had ever identified with
Some agencies have changed their tune however, not just due
But by the same token, these ads will continue to draw the
look future facing, Holder says. To look cool and with it, they
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designed to be read by his mates who work hard all day and
drink in the pub. Its cover stars are not naked women, though.
With far less advertising revenue coming in, the grip that
So while the big beasts are struggling, the little beasts are
rising. Printing well-designed magazines used to be a corporate
digital printing software is easy to use and means that you can
the new (and old) magazines are being careful to print material
now runs the Sabotage Times, says that his new venture,
that feels like it really warrants those high design and editing
heyday and says that the internet has allowed whats interesting
to come to the fore. Im sure that sites like The Debrief (an online
pieces, he says.
The kinds of things
that gendered magazines
specialised in for a
while list-making, brash
humour, secrets, lies,
gossip and sex dont
benefit so much from being
in a magazine as opposed
to online
Brown also points out that the internet means that what we
read can be found here, there and everywhere: I think the move
sites on the web and reinvented them for the page, resulting in
from print to digital means its easier for readers to read exactly
magazines ranging from The Plant the magazine that loves the
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