You may have seen that last Tuesday, the 8th March, was International Women’s Day. As a result of this, there have been many campaigns over the last week focused around breaking the gender bias. I wanted to write my blog this week about one of the campaigns I saw on LinkedIn this week, CPB London’s ‘Imagine’ campaign.
The campaign consisted of a series of posters with instructions such as “Imagine someone in a board meeting” followed by a question such as “is it a man?” in order to focus the audience into challenging stereotypical thinking. The campaign is aimed at changing the perception of gender norms in our society by telling people that both men and women are capable of doing the same things. When I saw the posters, I immediately thought they were great. The simplicity is powerful and clearly communicates the message that both men and women should be viewed as equals in society and are capable of achieving the same things.
As I move toward the end of my degree and begin thinking about my working life, I am sure I will be faced with many barriers because of my gender. Unfortunately, because of the historical patriarchal bias I do believe it is harder for women to establish themselves as successful. And when they are successful, they are often criticised for being established or branded as bossy or brash. Because of this, I think it’s important to celebrate IWD in order to change opinion about women in society and ensure that people think that it is okay for women to fulfil any role which they desire. For some, this may be being a powerful CEO and for others it may be being a housewife and either option is totally viable and equally important.
Moreover, perceptions also need to change surrounding the male role in society. In the UK, suicide is the number one killer of men under 45. Toxic masculinity forces the stereotypes that men need to fulfil the traditional dominant gender role and stigmatises anything outside that norm. In 2022, I believe everyone should have the freedom to make the decisions about how they want to live and the careers they follow. Because of this, campaigns such as CPD London’s ‘Imagine’ campaign is significant to force societal change into the eradication of the gender bias.