Challenging harmful gender norms

Some of the strongest forces behind persistent gender gaps are harmful social norms and stereotypes that limit expectations of what women can or should do. These barriers discriminate against women. They are all around us, and they are deeply ingrained.

What's more, these outdated norms are holding back the global economic growth and social progress that will come from women's empowerment and gender equality - the growth and progress that are at the heart of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Secretary-General’s recent High-Level Panel on Women concluded: “Changing norms should be at the top of the 2030 Agenda”. We agree.

We want to use our influence, insight and expertise to challenge these adverse social norms and gender stereotypes - in our business, and in society at large. It is a central element of our Opportunities for Women strategy, which also embraces access to rights, skills, resources and jobs, and livelihoods across our full value chain - including through Advancing diversity and inclusion in our own business. And we believe that challenging those social norms can have a transformational impact.

In all this work, we’re guided by our vision (PDF | 7MB) of a world in which every woman and girl can create the kind of life she wishes to lead, unconstrained by harmful norms and stereotypes. And a world in which men, too, are free from the confines of adverse social norms and stereotypes of manhood and masculinity.

That's also a world in which economies are growing and creating opportunities for men and women alike. One in which people - and our business - can flourish.

We're convinced that business generally - including ours - can help change consumer behaviour and challenge social norms. That means changing the images we see, and the words we use, so we reflect the real aspirations, achievements and interests of women and men alike. Our Unstereotype initiative plays a vital role in this.

Of course, any single business can only reach so far in tackling stereotypes that ail the industry and society. To make an impact at greater scale, we need everyone to embrace it. In 2017, at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, we joined forces with UN Women to launch the Unstereotype Alliance, which brings together industry leaders across creative, marketing and media to take collective, urgent action in eliminating outdated stereotypes in advertising and driving long-term, positive cultural change.

We believe this is a chance to make a real difference at an industry level – and to address some of the barriers that limit people’s potential.

Through our brands, we have the chance to reach billions of people every day. That gives us an enormous opportunity to challenge stereotypes – watch how some of our biggest brands are leading the way.

Beginning with their prize-winning campaign featuring 6 Pack – India’s first transgender band – Brooke Bond has been spreading the message of inclusiveness, portraying gender authentically and encouraging people to become more accepting, break barriers and bond over a cup of tea. Watch the #SpeakYourHeart advertisement.

Dove’s #MyBeautyMySay campaign features stories of amazing women who stand up for their own beauty, refusing to let comments about their looks hold them back. Find out more about #MyBeautyMySay or watch the video.

A young taekwondo athlete who is also a proud hijab wearer helps Sunsilk continue to provide unstereotypical role models, with its new range for hijab wearers called Hijab Recharge. Sunsilk positions her as a source of inspiration, not only for hijab wearers but also for other girls who want to challenge social norms and craft their own exploration journey. See the Sunsilk Hijab video.

Knorr wanted to reflect how cooking has become much more inclusive and, by doing so, be relevant, inspirational and progressive. The Love at First Taste campaign appealed to millennials by reflecting the shared love of cooking and portraying men and women cooking for each other.

Men face stereotyping too. Axe seeks to readjust ‘toxic’ portrayals of masculinity and help liberate men to feel it’s OK to be themselves. Watch the #IsitOKforGuys advertisement.

Who are Hellmann's consumers? People who are defined by their passion for food, not their gender or background. Watch the Hellmann’s #OnTheSideOfFood advertisement.

Laundry, cooking, cleaning, collecting water and caring for people – in some parts of the world, these unpaid tasks in the home can take up to six hours a day. They’re the necessities of life and we should all be responsible for them. But all too often, they are done disproportionately by women and girls. Unpaid work like this is hampering women’s access to opportunities outside the home, holding individuals back and contributing to the gender gap.

If women’s unpaid care work were compensated at a rate roughly equal to minimum wage, this would add about $10 trillion to global economic output (around 13% of global GDP).¹ Globally, women spend between two and 10 times longer than men on household chores like laundry, cleaning and cooking, and caring for children and family members.

So how can we help change this gender norm? We don’t pretend complex issues like this can be solved by one business, with one initiative. But making people think about the status quo can be a first step to challenging it, if it isn’t fair. And by putting our brands at the centre of the change we want to create, we’ll keep building the consumer trust we need to grow our business.

Our laundry brand Surf is one example of a brand that has started to address the issue of unpaid domestic work.

We’re embedding the idea of unstereotyping throughout our business and value chain. Given the severity of the barriers to progress these norms present, they have to be tackled at multiple levels and in a variety of ways. Elsewhere within Opportunities for women, we describe our work on:

• advancing diversity and inclusion, through which we’re building a stronger business with empowered women, including by addressing unconscious bias
• promoting safety for women, including by challenging harmful norms within communities, focusing on the ones we and our suppliers are operating in
• Working with our brands and functions to provide women with access to skills to enhance their entrepreneurial capabilities and life skills
• expanding women’s opportunities in our retail value chain to empower them in their communities, showing it is possible to challenge limiting stereotypes, and to succeed.

¹The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, McKinsey Global Institute

Main image by Hanna Chriqui, Bangkok, Thailand