Social media wins gold for backlash to sexism
As the Rio Olympics draw to a close, there’s a new satirical spectator sport, parsing the nightly highlight reels that belittle the achievements of female athletes.
It’s called “Olympic media sexism bingo” using a card posted by comedian Megan Ford on her Twitter account. If a sportscaster remarks on a female athlete’s fashion instead of her forehand, mark your card. Ditto if a female athlete older than 21 is called a girl. Or if a commentator says a woman is performing “as good as a man.” Mark your card.
Sexism bingo is one of many recent examples of social media users piling into the ring to take gender stereotypes — in sports and other media — down for the count.
Women have been responsible for some of the most memorable moments of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. These moments were marred by enough sexist commentary to win the bingo game many times over. Women’s accomplishments were relentlessly diminished, compared to and credited to men. Still, for every biased and demeaning comment, social media took offenders to task, to the degree that sexism itself became a headline story of the Games.
While social media is often seen as the domain of trolls, Rio was an incredible demonstration of its power to combat small-minded discrimination.
When Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu broke a world record to take gold in the 400-metre event, cameras panned to her husband and coach. “Here’s the man responsible,” said NBC reporter Dan Hicks. Twitter lit up with a backlash that forced Hicks on the defensive, awkwardly admitting he regretted his statement.
After Corey Cogdell took bronze in trapshooting, the Chicago Tribune robbed her of her identity with the tweet: “Wife of a Bears’ lineman wins a bronze medal” (Cogdell’s husband is NFL player Mitch Unrein). Faced with a social media uproar, the Tribune penned a second article praising Cogdell’s accomplishments.
Canadian kayaker Adam Van Koeverden deserves a medal for using his blog to call out rower Adam Kreek for sexist comments about tennis player Eugenie Bouchard. “If men don’t call out men when we are being sexist, then we are not a part of the solution, and the problem persists,” Van Koeverden wrote.
But the Olympics aren’t the only example. Social media also is giving the red card to sexism in advertising.
Earlier this year, LG Canada ran an ad campaign for washers with slogans like, “Less washing time means more shopping time.” A deluge of online criticism forced the appliance maker to apologize for the stereotyping. Meanwhile, an Irish ad campaign for Sprite was savaged on social media this month for offensive slights like “She’s seen more ceilings than Michelangelo.”
Consumers today have an unprecedented platform to counter gender stereotyping in advertising, says Lisa Kimmel, CEO of PR firm Edelman Canada. “You can speak up through social media and, perhaps more importantly, speak with your wallet.”
More than 60 per cent of Canadians say they would be less likely to buy a product from a company that runs sexist ads, according to the 2016 Consumer Perspectives on Advertising survey.
A virtual mob can deliver consequences to any sportscaster or advertiser that doesn’t think before they speak. That puts the ball in your court. When you hear sexist or demeaning comments, don’t just put a mark on your bingo card. Get online and tweet about it. Consider it a goal scored for a more respectful society.