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All I want for Christmas is…to see women represented in all their wild and wonderful glory.

Writer's picture: UK CreativeUK Creative

Alaina Crystal - Creative Strategist and Coach

Monday 9th December 2024


 

We open on a frazzled woman in an overheating kitchen. Her hair is askew and she’s sweating buckets as she frantically bastes a turkey. The clinking of glassware and merry laughter can be heard from off-screen. No one is coming to help her.

 

We open on a pristine woman serving elegant canapes and champagne flutes in her spotless front room. Her children are dressed immaculately, their behaviour impeccable as they play quietly. She smiles with the self-satisfaction of knowing that she’s absolutely nailing Christmas.

 

Which of these scenarios would you rather be?



In truth, probably neither. They both paint women as caricatures of themselves, one so overworked and underappreciated but she can’t stop striving for perfection; one so perfect that you wonder if she’s ever had a real emotion in her life. Both seem unhappy, locked into a battle with Christmas that they can never truly win.

 

Welcome to the world of “femvertising”: Christmas edition. A world where women are either chained to their kitchens or on the highest twinkle-lit pedestal, but where neither seem to really be enjoying themselves or the festive spirit that the advert is meant to engender.

 

“Femvertising” is a term coined in 2014 in response to the raft of adverts depicting women’s and girls’ empowerment (think Dove “Real Beauty Sketches,” Always “Like a Girl,” Barbie “Imagine the Possibilities”). And in the early 2010s, it seemed like everything was possible for women. Sheryl Sandberg was inviting us to “lean in,” Beyonce was quoting from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We should all be feminists” TED talk, and Hillary Clinton was gearing up for her historic presidential run. It’s no great surprise that adverts were reflecting this new wave of feminist thinking, encouraging women to go go go after their dreams.

 

But ten years on, the world has dramatically changed. From the pink pussy hats at the 2017 Women’s March; to the rise of #metoo and the sexual assault and harassment allegations that followed; to “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran and around the globe; to the loss of reproductive rights in the US, it hasn’t necessarily felt like the 2010s version of feminism has gotten women very far. The idea of go go going after our dreams has left us…exhausted.

 

Closer to home, women are no stranger to the physical and emotional labour imbalances that makes up the daily fabric of our lives; a YouGov study from 2021 shows that women with partners (38%) say they are much more likely to be doing the lion’s share of the housework and childcare while also working full-time, compared with 9% of men. Moreover, McKinsey’s most recent Women in the Workplace survey shows a chasm between what men and women perceive to be reality; 75% of men believe they split the housework equally, compared to 57% of women.

 

And in the creative industries, we are still making work a hostile environment for women; as strategist Zoe Scaman notes in her latest treatise The Motherload, “over 50% of mothers described their emotional or mental health as a ‘rollercoaster’ or ‘intense and chaotic’ upon returning to work.” More strikingly, she calculates that the UK advertising industry is spending an estimated £1.7 billion each year recruiting new talent when women leave the industry due to unworkable conditions.

 

So it’s no great surprise that Christmas adverts tend to mimic these trends of pigeonholing and poorly representing women when it comes time to showcase the magic of the season, particularly if these women aren’t even staying in the industry to begin with.

 

Just look at Waitrose and Marks and Spencers’ offerings this year: Waitrose depicts three shrewish women, sighing their way through the festive season as everyone else enjoys the delicious food on offer; while M&S opts for Dawn French’s Scrooge, wishing her neighbours away until a magical fairy transforms her from a gremlin to a goddess with a wave of the wand, enabling her to deliver the perfect festive feast.

 

Boots seems to have nailed it this year - despite the vocal misgivings from the “it’s too woke!” crowd - with a badass Adjoa Andoh as Mrs. Claus, carousing through her workshop and giving orders like the boss she is. But tucked inside this Drag Race-esque offering is still a reminder that behind every lauded man is often a woman - working her ass off.



 


At the UK Creative Festival in July (a very sunny Margate day which now feels like an impossibility as winter sets in), we brought together a panel of experts to talk about “femvertising” and its legacy on how women are depicted in adverts today.

 

Tanja Grubner, Global Marketing Director for Libresse/Bodyform, who has spent the last 8 years breaking taboos on women’s bodies and health, shared with us that “courage is contagious.” When we look at this year’s Christmas adverts, we might ask ourselves: have these brands been courageous? Have they reflected on how women’s lives today might actually feel, and how they might be able to shift the needle on how we perceive women?

 

Debbie Tembo, Inclusion Partner at Creative Equals, reminded us that “who makes the work, shapes the work,” and with Christmas adverts arguably acting as the Super Bowl of British advertising, I’m curious if the 12% of female creative directors are in the rooms as this work is being crafted. Tom Ghiden, Managing Director of JOAN London, asked us: “how do we ensure that we are passing the mic and we're allowing diverse voices to have a perspective both in leadership but also in the creative that we're developing?” This means that every voice matters, no matter their level of experience or background.

 

As content creator and creative director Clemmie Telford highlighted, “Advertising to women in an authentic way doesn't have to be a one and done. It's not a trend and now I think we're starting to ask ourselves what would it look like to actually centre this in the work for the long-haul.”

 

Advertising has the power to both create stereotypes and to change them over time. My invitation for next year’s Christmas adverts is to have the courage to imagine a new reality for women. One where they aren’t bitterly wrapping gifts and stuffing turkeys, or passing a perfectly manicured hand over a velvet sofa. One where their wishes are the centre of the story, not sidelined in favour of others’ joy. One where they are themselves, in all their complex and Christmassy glory.

 

So what are we to do?

 

We need to be centring actual women in our advertising; not the women who appear perfect or perplexed, but women who bring their plurality of selfhood to every part of their lives - including Christmas.

 

We need to ensure that women are in the rooms when these ads are being written - and not just taking the notes, but actively feeding into the experience of making a showstopping Christmas ad.

 

And we need to build a creative industry that supports women at all the lifestages they might encounter. From equal pay, to quality shared parental leave, to smooth re-entry into the working world, to menopause - women contain multitudes, and so should our creative agencies’ approaches to welcoming them with open arms.



 

So let’s try this again:

 

We open on a woman at a Christmas party. She’s surrounded by people she loves. Sure, she’s put in some work to make the party happen; but she’s also solicited help from her guests. There’s a potluck dinner on the table, some wrapped gifts, and a few glasses of wine scattered around. She’s leaning back on the sofa with a smile on her face and a mince pie in her hand. She’s done enough.

 

Alaina Crystal is a creative strategist and coach who builds campaigns to improve the world for women + girls. She has transformed the way we view women’s bodies with Bodyform and repositioned Barbie from a controversial lightning rod to a feminist icon.


If you missed the brilliant ‘ Where have all the Femverts gone? ’ discussion at this year’s UK Creative Festival check it out here now.


 

Alaina Crystal - Creative Strategist and Coach

Monday 9th December 2024


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