Let's speak up to those who speak down
March 08, 2019
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In partnership with Jungle Creations, International Women’s Day and the online female-first community Four Nine are calling out some harmful gendered definitions of words commonly adopted in society. The aim is to get mass audiences around the world to re-think and re-choose their use of language, and to call-out the language of others.
In a powerful and thought-provoking International Women's Day (IWD) video, a series of common, gendered definitions are passionately called out because these words continue to undermine women today.
Watch the viral video here on Facebook.
Speak up to those who speak down
The IWD video forms part of a wider ‘Overheard at Work’ campaign by Four Nine that encourages women and men to "Speak Up To Those Who Speak Down".
The video highlights gendered definitions and exemplifications of words that serve to undermine women and hinder progress towards gender equality.
Created for International Women's Day's #BalanceForBetter campaign, the video sees interviewees react to words that stereotypically are defined across society as female, such as:
An urgent need for gender-balanced definitions
The International Women's Day video certainly has impact and aims to prompt mass audiences to:
- provide more balanced definitions and examples of words
- motivate viewers to consider the power and potentially damaging effects of the language they use
- encourage people to speak up when hearing others using gendered language that is harmful
The video explores sexism and derogatory language that many women still face in the workplace today. The IWD video aims to empower women by creating a community where they can share their own personal encounters with gender inequality.
Calling out harmful gendered language
As a part of the campaign, the Four Nine website is hosting a glossary of words that are often gendered in negative ways.
A series of interviews with high-profile women are published, detailing their experiences with sexism and harmful gendered language, including founder of Mother Pukka, Anna Whitehouse, and presenter and DJ, Ashley James. Further to this, Four Nine is inviting people to anonymously submit stories of sexism they’ve encountered in the workplace which will then be shared with the Four Nine community before forming part of a video released at the end of the campaign.
Sparking the conversation around the impact of gendered language
Chief Content Officer at Jungle Creations, Melissa Chapman, commented: “We’re proud to partner with International Women’s Day for another year and use Jungle Creations’ resources to raise awareness of the gender equality that still exists today. Our campaign hopes to spark a conversation around the impact of gendered language, that perpetuates negative gender stereotypes of women whilst encouraging women to speak up about sexism they face.”
Glenda Slingsby, Partnerships Director for International Women’s Day said: “Companies like Jungle Creations play a significant role in reaching and inspiring mass audiences about the importance of a gender-balanced world. The International Women’s Day video is incredibly powerful. Challenging behavior and perception changes attitudes and actions. A balanced world is a better world - #BalanceforBetter.”
Create a #BalanceforBetter by sharing the viral video
The ‘Overheard at Work’ campaign runs on Four Nine, including its website and social channels, throughout March and will be shared to other social communities managed by Four Nine’s parent company Jungle Creations, including VT, Brush and The Look.
For learn more about gendered language and the impact it has, take a look at these great resources:
To see last year's hugely successful and powerful International Women's Day viral video from Jungle Creations, click here.
Reference: 14115