Copy of slides for talk at University of East London

1. @OBJECTUPDATE
ROZ HARDIE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, OBJECT

2. Dapper Laughs

3. PETER KAY and £150K WOMEN’S
AID FUNDRAISER
.............NOT PART OFTHE MEDIA NARRATIVE

4. Today
What is sexual objectification?
Media portrayal of working class
women
Campaigning for better representation

5. JEAN KILBOURN QUOTE

6. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN
CONTEXT
 One in five women has experienced some
form of sexual violence since the age of 16
 Approximately 85,000 women are raped and
over 400,000 women are sexually assaulted in
England and Wales every year
 .

7. Media sexism helps shape
public attitudes
"The media creates, reflects
and enforces attitudes in
society.Those who work
in the media should be
conscious of this and
should actively seek not
to reproduce attitudes
which condone violence
against women or girls.“
Marai Larasi
Co-Chair, EndViolence Against Women
Coalition, Leveson Inquiry
Object and partners gave evidence to Leveson

8. IDENTIFYING SEXUAL
OBJECTIFICATION
 THE CHIPSTEST?
 COMMODITY
 HARMED
 INTERCHANGEABLE
 PARTS
 STAND IN
Weekend Sport – on display approx 10
cm from ground outdoors on main street

9. COMMODITY
DOES THE IMAGE SHOW A SEXUALISED
PERSON AS A COMMODITY, FOR EXAMPLE, AS
SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BOUGHT AND SOLD?
 Advert for
shoes

10. HARMED: DOES THE
IMAGE SHOW A
SEXUALISED PERSON
BEING HARMED, FOR
EXAMPLE, BEING
VIOLATED OR UNABLE
TO GIVE CONSENT?
Billboards in Hackney 2014 for a club and
in Southern Italy for cleaning products

11. INTERCHANGEABLE:
DOES THE IMAGE
SHOW A SEXUALISED
PERSON AS
INTERCHANGEABLE,
FOR EXAMPLE, A
COLLECTION OF
SIMILAR BODIES?
Daily Star:Win a date with a Page 3 competition - 2015

12. PARTS
DOES THE
IMAGE SHOW A
SEXUALISED
PERSON AS
BODY PARTS,
FOR EXAMPLE,
A HUMAN
REDUCED TO
BREASTS OR
BUTTOCKS? Pot Noodle – 2014World Cup Promotion

13. STAND-IN: DOES THE IMAGE PRESENT A
PERSON AS A STAND-IN FOR AN
OBJECT, FOR EXAMPLE, A HUMAN BODY
USED AS A CHAIR OR A TABLE?
Advert for ‘Naked Sushi’ – Spearmint Rhino, Camden, Currently on social
media

14. WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM
 BUYING STUFFWE DON’T NEED (INADEQUACY MARKETING)
 UNREALISTIC BODY IDEALS
 RACIST STEREOTYPES (E.G. BRAZILIANS HYPER-SEXUALISED)
 MINIMISING SEXUALVIOLENCE (E.G.ALLEGATIONSABOUT
TERRY RICHARDSAS HARASSER)
 IMPOSSIBLETOAVOID
 DEHUMANISING
 WOMEN NOT SHOWN AS
ACHIEVING IN SPHERES
OTHER
THAN BEAUTY

15. NOT A NEW PHENOMENON
Saartje Baartman exhibited and promoted
as a freak show in London in early 19th
Century Europe

16. MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF TRANS
WOMEN
PARTICULARY
INSIDIOUS
 Identification where not relevant, ignoring Gender
RecognitionAct
 Intrusive levels of detail about personal issues and
coverage of “non stories”
 Can have tragic consequences e.g. Lucy Meadows’
suicide after “sensational and salacious media
coverage
Dr Kate Stone who nearly died after
being attacked by a stag.

17. PORTRAYAL OF WORKING CLASS
WOMEN
“Gross, overly sexed, untamed, crude, and
deserving of sexual exploitation and
aggression”

18. A 2006 survey by
YouGov suggested
70% of TV
industry
professionals
believed that
Vicky Pollard was
an accurate
reflection of
white working
class youth.
Benefit fraud poster,
Department ofWork and
Pensions

19. PORTRAYAL OF FEMINIST CAMPAIGNS
AS MILLIE TANT VS SID THE
SEXIST

20. FRAMING THE DEBATE
 Mainstream media frequently follow a script which
portrays anti-sexism campaigners as largely white,
middle class women, often with a focus on the
culture and taste of working class men.
 No evidence that working class men
more sexist than men as a group in general
or of working class culture disproportionately
targeted
 This misrepresentation erases the voices of many
campaigners, and unrealistically portrays the target
ignoring the multi-billion pound/ dollar industry
towards individual consumers.

21. DEBATE IS ABOUT
BIG BUSINESS
RICHARD DESMOND,WORTH
£1.2 BILLION, SUNDAYTIMES
RICH LIST 2014

22. RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT
NORTHERN & SHELL

23. Campaiging on the Sun has
focussed on portrayal of
women
But aware portrayal of
other groups also
problematic

24. CAMPAIGNING FOR BETTER
REPRESENTATION
LOSE THE LADS MAGS

25. PEOPLE POWER WORKS -
KENNETH COLE TWEET IN “CASE
STUDIES” FOR PUBLIC CAN
RECLAIM NARRATIVE

26. PADDY POWER AD GOT 5.5K
COMPLAINTS

27. LOTS OF
PEOPLE
ARE
CONCERNED
ABOUT
PORN AND
MEDIA
SEXISM

28. ABOUT.ME/ROZHARDIE