Urbact - Gender Equal Cities

Changing the face of advertising [London, England]

2018 marked 100 years since some women won the right to vote for the first time in the United Kingdom (UK). To mark this occasion the Greater London Authority (GLA) launched a cross-sectoral campaign for gender equality in the city entitled Behind Every Great City . As part of the campaign, only artwork by women was displayed on London s vast underground system. A statue of Millicent Fawcett, one of the suffragettes who secured the right for women to vote in the UK, was erected in Parliament Square. It is the first and only statue of a woman in the square. The GLA also commissioned research21 into whether or not women, and particularly women of colour, felt represented on billboards across the city. The qualitative and quantitative data revealed a resounding dissatisfaction on the part of many women about the sexualised or stereotyped portrayal of their lives in advertising. So, to incentivise change, the GLA ran a competition called The Women We See. Advertising companies submitted campaigns designed around challenging gender stereotypes, increasing diversity and creating more positive and inclusive campaigns that represent the real London. The prize? Free advertising on the tube, the world s most expensive advertising space! This is a great example of how the city can use its control or influence of the public transport network s extensive advertising space to transform public attitudes.

21 Greater London Authority (2018) Women we see , available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/ files/2018_women_we_see.pdf

[ CALL TO ACTION ] Do you want to critically examine communication in your city for gender norms? Check out the Images that change the world project to start critically looking at gender norms in photos and images and EIGE s toolkit on gender-sensitive communication.

Case Study