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Creative Agency Campaigns Against Objectifying Women In Media With #WomenNotObjects

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We love the bold stance taken by the ad agency Badger and Winters: "to never objectify women in our work." In case you need to be reminded why that's an important pledge, check out the post from Fast Company highlighting their commitment, as well as their video demonstrating the objectification of women in advertising, #WomenNotObjects, which went viral last month.  fastcocreate.com - An advertising agency CCO is spearheading a campaign to fight the objectification of women in ads and other media.

Madonna Badger, founder and CCO of Manhattan-based Badger and Winters Group, anonymously launched a video, "We are #WomenNotObjects" in mid-January. The two-and-a-half-minute-long film contains a montage of ads and branded social media posts, which were returned in response to a Google image search for "objectification of women."

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J31AT7viqo#action=share[/embed]

Some of these ads are reproduced in placard form and a series of women each hold an image, whilst delivering a sarcastic observation. For example, a highly suggestive image from Burger King is accompanied by the line, "I love giving blow-jobs to sandwiches."

The campaign hopes to spark a wider conversation and drive change. Badger says: "The campaign is aimed at everyone who needs to think about what we are doing and how we can change the way we portray women in advertising and media."

When viewing the images in the video, Badger’s message is one with which it is hard to disagree. It’s also fair to say that, while some brands appear to have been singled out, this really could have included ads from hundreds of brands, not just those featured. (Although, that Tom Ford Men’s cologne ad...)

Read the rest, including more on what drives Badger and her vision for her own female-lead creative agency, here.

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6 Reasons women support Justin Trudeau

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From his push for greater diversity, to his advocacy for First Nations citizens, to his support of clean technologies; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has made waves and won supporters since before his election. So it should come as no surprise that the leader of the Liberal Party supports—and is supported by—women. Check out this article from SheKnows listing just a few of the reasons women support Justin Trudeau.

sheknows.com - Image: Chesnot/Getty Images

If you can say anything about Canada's new PM, he certainly has made an impression on women voters. A new survey of over 8,000 Quebecers proves this, as it found that women and young people (aged 18 – 24) were among the biggest fans of Justin Trudeau.

More: Trudeau's response to the question of gender-balance is perfect

The poll found that while 55 percent of Quebecers approved of Trudeau's work so far, that number was higher among women than men — with 58 percent of women reporting that they felt "satisfied" with what Trudeau has accomplished in his first 100 days in office.

And why is Trudeau popular with women? Because he's done the following things:

1. Trudeau is proud to call himself a feminist

Trudeau isn't afraid of the F-word, which no politician should be in 2016. He's called himself a feminist many times, crediting his mother for his feminist education: “My mom raised me to be a feminist," explained Trudeau this fall at an Up For Debate event. "My father raised me — he was a different generation — but he raised me to respect and defend everyone’s rights, and I deeply grounded my own identity in that, and I am proud to say that I am a feminist.”

Read the rest of the article here. Also check out the SheKnows slideshow introducing the 15 women appointed to Canada's new cabinet. We'll leave you with a video Trudeau posted to Twitter late last month, commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Manitoba women getting the right to vote:

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Why We Need to Keep Talking About Feminism

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Please enjoy an excerpt from Huffington Post, where Sheila Moeschen; senior editor for I AM THAT GIRL; writes on feminism, conversations, and how a book can make us nervous—or serve as an opening for a conversation that is still vital and ongoing.  

huffingtonpost.com - I had just been to one of the nearby bookstores where I had bought Gloria Steinem's recent memoir My Life On the Road and was looking forward to pausing over some coffee to dig in and read for a while. Now I felt supremely self-conscious about breaking it out in front of this person. Would he try to engage me in a debate on feminism? Would he take it as an invitation to assume I was a Hillary supporter and pontificate on the laundry list of reasons why Hillary was bad for the country and even worse for women? Would he get angry?

In the zillion years I spent as an undergrad and graduate student studying literature, a book has never made me nervous. But here I was weirdly worried. I felt very much what it means to be an educated white woman during a time in our country's history where the focus on women—on our bodies, our access to health care, our politics and our relationship with feminism—is like a powder keg rigged up to a hair trigger. Women are in a perpetual state of vigilance it seems, on guard against physical and verbal assault, crouched in a defensive pose in anticipation of backlash. No wonder women are confused and cagey about feminism. It's risky and messy. It's a lot of work. Isn't there an app for this?

Read the rest here, and follow Sheila Moeschen on Twitter.

 

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Landless women farmers receive land tenancy for the first time in Pakistan

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asiapacific.unwomen.org - Durdana is a young widower from Pakistan’s Dadu District in Sindh Province. She is one of 1,214 landless women farmers and sharecroppers who have received land tenancy rights for the first time in their life. Speaking of her new status, Durdana shares that farming is her life: “I do not know anything else but working in the fields. Who could think a poor female widower like me would be given land! For the first time in my life I can say something is mine. This land, as far as the eye can see is mine - this paper says so. This is my land and I am its queen,” she says beamingly.

UN Women Pakistan in collaboration with local partners, Baanhn Beli and Gorakh Foundation, in Mirpur Khas and Dadu Districts, respectively, is working with 1,214 vulnerable rural women farmers, like Durdana, to acquire land tenancy rights from their feudal and tribal landholders. These landless women farmers were trained and mentored to prepare tenancy agreements and landholding maps with their male landlords.

In the process, they have been provided with a viable livelihood option that could take them out of poverty and enable their upward social mobility.

 

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International Day of Rural Women

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“Collectively, rural women are a force that can drive global progress.”—Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Rural women—their contributions, families, struggles and communities worldwide and how we can all honor, support and recognize them—were the focus of International Day of Rural Women, Oct. 15.

Rural women are often acutely in need of support, but they’re not the only ones who benefit from their empowerment. The key roles they play in their communities position rural women uniquely well to benefit those around them as they thrive. Yet even as the world has seen many advances in medicine, economics, production and more; the number of rural women living in poverty has risen.

Rural women make up about a quarter of the world’s population and produce about half of the world’s food, yet they own only 1 percent of the land. They are resilient, strong, hard workers—from the women who provide for their families each morning only to go out and work 12-hour days fishing or harvesting to the women in sub-Saharan Africa who, collectively, spend about 40 billion hours hauling water each year—yet they are undereducated and often receive little access to training or essential tools for their work.

Women also play pivotal, and sometimes desperately difficult, roles in their families. They are the most likely to be caregivers both for young and old family members, usually on top of their daily responsibilities. When food resources run scares, it is most often women in poor rural families who go hungry, giving food instead to their children and husbands.

International Day of Rural Women was established by the UN in 2007 and first observed in 2008. The observance raises awareness of the crucial role rural women play in the welfare of societies worldwide, and invites governments and organizations to pledge their support for these women, their families and their communities.

Simple measures can often go a long way. Providing women and girls with greater access to education can help for a lifetime. Less than half of school-aged girls in many rural communities attend school, and when family resources suffer, they may be pulled from school to help support the family. Women often have no chance to continue their education, but studies have shown that women with secondary educations tend to marry later, have fewer children and be less susceptible to domestic violence. When women are given access to skills-based training and agricultural resources it can greatly increase the productivity of their farms, helping to feed hundreds of millions worldwide.

When rural women win, everyone wins.

Through concerted and cooperative efforts to empower rural women; governments have begun to fight hunger, bolster economies, deal with natural disasters and rising food prices, support families and transform societies.

We would like to express our support of and admiration for the strides made and awareness raised through International Rural Women’s Day. It’s second only to our admiration for the women themselves. You are superheroes.

Learn more about International Day of Rural Women.

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The Fight for Women's Rights Continues Worldwide

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“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely—and the right to be heard.” Those words first entered the international conscience 20 years ago, as Hillary Clinton, then First Lady of the United States, spoke at the fourth annual United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing. The issues of that conference, the progress made since then and the road we still must travel have been the focus of this year’s International Women’s Day March 8, Women’s History Month and the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Efforts, events and initiatives will continue throughout 2015.

Observations like these commemorate women’s achievements throughout history and the ongoing struggle for gender equality. They also serve each year to shine a spotlight on women’s accomplishments and reflect on the progress women worldwide have made—and still must make. As the United Nations observes Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (also known as Beijing+20), this year’s International Women’s Day theme is #MakeItHappen. Make what happen? Aren’t women equal?

Not quite.

The Global Gender Gap Report, an index last released in November 2014, tracks gender inequalities in economics, politics, education and health in 142 countries. While inequalities in health and education are shrinking dramatically worldwide and eliminated in many countries, there is still work to be done—and economic participation and political empowerment are still dramatically unequal worldwide and in most countries. Some countries have made great strides in recent decades toward gender equality—a move that helps not only women, but the country as a whole, as countries with empowered women who are able to realize their full potential are most successful on the international stage.

It’s also worth noting that, despite recent advancements, not one country has reached total gender equality.

Sometimes, it’s even worse. Women and girls around the world continue to face threats including domestic partner violence, female genital mutilation, sex trafficking, barriers to education and lack of health care or birth control.

In spite of performing about 60 percent of the labor worldwide, women often receive a fraction of the wages that men do—not nearly enough to support families.

One in three women will be physically or sexually assaulted in her lifetime.

Even as the United States celebrated Women’s Equality Day Aug. 26, marking 95 years since women in the country won the right to vote, women in the country still make up only 20 to 25 percent of elected officials at the state and federal level—despite turning out to vote at rates much higher than men. The U.S. Supreme Court, at its highest female representation ever, still only boasts three women to six men.

It’s not all bad. Women are, and always have been, crucial players in developement of societies and economies. Women are starting businesses at greater rates than men in recent years, often funded by other women investors. Women are holding political office more than ever before. The number of women in the United States Congress has nearly tripled in that time, though they still make up only 20 percent.

Perhaps most encouragingly, more people are getting on board. Women and men around the world are realizing that the struggle for equality is a cause that helps us all.

Feminism and women’s issues overlap other serious concerns like labor organization, education, environmental conservation, world hunger and poverty.

President Barack Obama said, in his 2014 State of the Union Address, “Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. That’s why this Congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work. Really. It’s 2015. It’s time.”

Leaders, activists and citizens from around the world can make it happen—from petitioning world leaders to take action on women’s issues, to starting and investing in women’s business, to taking a critical look at gender relations and the way they talk in their everyday lives—through steps big and small, political and personal, familial and financial.

Whether you’re leading an event or march, joining one of the hundreds of celebrations around the world or fighting for equality in your community and home, we can do this. It’s 2015. It’s time. Get out there and make it happen. ----- International Women’s Day: The discussion and movement continues! Learn more about 2015 initiatives and events around the world. Facebook Twitter Use the hashtag #MakeItHappen

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3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix

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3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix
3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix

Entrepreneurs, business professionals and students met at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Feb. 20 and 21 to learn from a power-packed lineup of business and media experts, to network with leading executive men and women and to become part of a global economic revolution geared toward women and girls at the Third Annual Phoenix Women Investing in Women Summit. Our founder, Anu Bhardwaj, noted that it was “the largest Women Investing in Women Summit after having expanding our Global WIIW Summit Series across North America, Asia, Europe and Africa over the past 12 months. In the true spirit of Women Investing in Women, we are extremely thrilled that a large portion of our revenues will be supporting the official launch of The State of Women Radio Network, the “Women Investing in Women and Girls” radio show, and the Girls Rule Foundation.

A large portion of the summit's revenues went toward supporting WIIW's “Women Investing in Women and Girls” radio show, as well as the Girls Rule Foundation, an Arizona-based nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering girls ages 12 to 18.

3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix
3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix

Aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike learned from business, technology and media experts; who spoke on topics including crowdfunding, negotiating, managing finances as a small business, educating girls in STEM fields, the Girl Scouts' amazing business model, international business and philanthropy, the LGBT community and more. Through talks, presentations, breakout sessions and networking; entrepreneurs and professional women of all interests and experience levels came out of the summit enriched and invigorated with new contacts, expertise and inspiration.

3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix
3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix

Seed Spot, a nonprofit incubator focused on social entrepreneurship, hosted a pitching session at the summit. Founder Courtney Klein discussed pitching and the importance of building a community of mutually supportive entrepreneurs. With hundreds of alumni who have raised $1.7 million in capital and created 160 new jobs, she made a strong case. The incubator and office space boasts a network of over 350 mentors and runs a four-month program twice a year to assist new entrepreneurs.

We were especially excited to feature our inaugural WIIW Phoenix Private Equity Roundtable, especially focused on helping local women investors understand due-diligence as it pertains to making angel, venture capital, and private equity investments. As a women-focused private equity roundtable it offered a unique and often unexplored perspective.

Guests were also able to treat themselves. Mini-headshot sessions hosted by Get Image Ready helped interested attendees add professional and eye-catching flair to their professional profiles on social media and other business networking channels. Guests received tips on putting a good face forward in business and beauty, as well as hair and makeup touchup and a finished digital image.

3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix
3rd Annual WIIW Summit hits Phoenix

The summit also hosted a “Pink Carpet Reception” sponsored by Get Image Ready to celebrate the launch of international bestselling book “Success in Beauty.” as part of a launch party to benefit the Girls Rule Foundation. The party featured a panel discussion and book signing by six local co-authors; event photography by Style Image Studios’ Stella Crowl, voted Best of Our Valley by Arizona Foothills Magazine and swag by local dessert and beauty vendors. Special presenters included:

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