On Enabling Sexist Thought Patterns
I came across this post, Word Revocation: “Men” and “Women” on Squashed - and thought it might be a great inspiration/exercise for men and women on marketing teams. Here’s a clip:
The gendered terms don’t fit perfectly or even very well. The words aren’t the cause of sexist thought patterns—but they’re certainly enablers.
Stop using the words “men” and “women,” at least temporarily. Try it for a few weeks. See what it does to established thought patterns. Your brain will need some categories to work properly—and maybe you can come up with more appropriate—or at least more interesting—categories. Do we say “men” or “women” when we mean “creepy sociopaths” or “people I find sexually attractive” or “people who think differently than I do” or “people who intimidate me” or “people with money and power” or “irrational people”? Eliminating the use of two words should reveal gender stereotypes we weren’t aware we had.
For marketers, try a week of targeting: “people who are passionate about _____ (your product here)” or “people who are focused on their kids” and so on. Any examples you’d like to add?
