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If you're tired of seeing ads labeling little girls as "social butterflies" while boys are touted as "future scholars," you're not alone. In the United Kingdom, advertising industry regulator Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is cracking down on ads that reinforce gender stereotypes.Following the ASA's newly published report on gender roles in advertising, the industry watchdog plans to issue new guidelines in 2018 to combat the harmful effects of sexist advertising.
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In the report, ASA categorized gender stereotypes as "[having] the potential to cause harm by inviting assumptions about adults and children that might negatively restrict how they see themselves and how others see them." While the organization has a record of banning ads due to inappropriate sexualization, the report stated that a "tougher line" is needed for ads featuring stereotypical gender roles, which restrict "the choices, aspirations and opportunities of children, young people, and adults."The report also acknowledged that it would be "unrealistic to prevent ads… depicting a woman cleaning" but suggested "new standards on gender stereotypes might elaborate on the types of treatments that might be problematic."Read more: How Gender Stereotypes Affect What You Choose to Eat
The ASA provided some examples of ads that would be deemed problematic, like "an ad which depicts family members creating mess while a woman has sole responsibility for cleaning it up, an ad that suggests an activity is inappropriate for a girl because it is stereotypically associated with boys or vice versa, or an ad that features a man trying and failing to undertake simple parental or household tasks." So, while a Swiffer ad featuring a woman using the mop would be fine, one showing her family trashing the house and leaving her to clean it up would not fly under new regulations.The ASA does not have the jurisdiction to impose fines, but USA Today reports that "British broadcasters are bound by the terms of their licenses to comply with its rulings." The report noted that evidence indicates "support for the ASA's track record of banning ads that objectify or inappropriately sexualize women and girls, and ads that suggest it is acceptable for young women to be unhealthily thin."