Written by Giles Kirkland
It almost seems crazy that in 2017, we have to ask that question; surely it’s "When did automotive industry ads become less sexist?" Or is that naivety?
To answer that question, we first need to define sexist, or at least what could be construed as sexist, and to some degree, that’s quite subjective; would an advert depicting a woman piloting a rally car through a stage be viewed as sexist thanks to positive discrimination? Have manufacturers (or ad agencies) gone too far the other way?
OK, that’s an easier question to answer; absolutely not.
What Construes a Sexist Advert?
For the purpose of the article, we’re talking of the type of advert that was prevalent back in the 1970’s, you know, the ones that made women out to be the weaker, smaller minded, buxom and challenged in the sensible-clothes department.
Still not sure? A perfect example is the Goodyear Double Eagle advertisement of tires "for when there’s no man around".
There’s hundreds of examples for sexist adverts, how about the Hurst Dual Gate transmission; His and Hers shifter -“ the simple automatic for the woman, the shifter for the man -“ better yet, it was lockable so the little lady couldn’t access it.
Also read: Life as a Female Motoring Journalist
We can look back at these adverts with some sense of C’est la vie -“ that’s just life, after all, the automotive world has been traditionally dominated by males; designers, engineers, craftsmen, sales, service and purchasers -“ that was just life; there were many attitudes back then that were acceptable at that time that would see you locked up now, sexism was just part of it.
But surely, he we are, well into the 21st Century and sexism is a thing of the past. Isn’t it?
Yeh-¦no.
Sexism -¦ Hasn’t Been Consigned to History
It’s true that the type of advert that sparks outrage has long been finished with, although Volkswagen may have forgotten that when they launched the fifth-generation Golf with Park Assist -“ the ad campaign featured a print advert that had a woman with her nose pressed to the rear glass trying to park a Golf. This model was launched in 2004, so times had already changed, or at least that’s what we had been led to believe.
Admittedly, it could have been worse -“ they didn’t depict the Park Assist as a man, ready to take control of the parking when you’d reached your destination, but nevertheless, it was a big home goal for Volkswagen. It’s a good job those clever guys at VW know how to get their engine emissions right.
Back to the point -¦ yes, those adverts from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s are long gone, but more than a degree of sexism still exists with automotive advertising, it just isn’t as blatant.
Modern Day Sexism
Most car adverts that we get to see nowadays all show the woman/en in a positive light -“ out enjoying themselves, no mention of men, having fun and enjoying life.
I know what you’re thinking -“ that’s a positive image, BUT -¦ the one thing that all these adverts have in common is that the car is always compact or sub-compact -“ you’d think that a woman is incapable of driving something with a bit of get-up-and-go.
Rarely do we get to see a woman driving on her own, for the simple pleasure of driving; it’s a night out, shopping, running errands -¦ now you could argue (if you were brave enough) that this is a simple reflection on life -“ women generally do more stuff, they’re more productive, they multi-task and us guys would be lost without them, but since when have car ads reflected real-life? Surely the whole point of a car ad is aspirational?
Besides, think of the periphery activities; motor shows, calendars (the Pirelli calendar is the perfect example), live events including worldwide racing like Formula 1 -“ how do they add glamor to the proceedings? It certainly isn’t by getting a few guys dressed in frilly underwear, is it?
Worldwide Acceptance
We should add that this isn’t just an American thing either, in the United Kingdom for example, they had their fair share of sexist ads, but while the women weren’t generally made out to be the weaker sex, they were certainly shown off to the be the fairer sex -“ using their -˜assets’ was a common ploy with the advertising men.
Having said that, Ford made a terrific advert for the UK, getting a woman to swear an oath about ensuring the domestic chores were taken care of; putting up with wash day blues before the scenic views.
Societal Changes
While there is an element of understanding that things were different -˜back then’, perhaps we can even make light of some of the adverts, or at least enjoy them for what they were, we mustn’t forget that society is changing.
Rather controversially, we’d ask whether women help to increase or decrease the instances of sexism in the automotive world?
Take Susie Wolff as an example -“ a promising racing career and F1 test driver, giving everything up to get married and have a family. Did she succumb to stereotyping or is she a positive role-model for women? It really is only a question of perspective.
Less Definitely Isn’t More
Getting back to the original question -“ Are automotive industry ads less sexist? Yes they are, but -˜less’ doesn’t mean that it’s been eliminated from modern-day culture.
We no longer see adverts from mainstream manufacturers tempting people to buy their products by giving them the illusion that they’ll all instantly become more attractive to the opposite sex, neither do they show women to be incapable of controlling anything more than a dishwasher and we don’t get sold anything because it’s a pretty color.
But -¦ you’d have to agree that any woman portrayed in an advert is rarely less than average looking, with perfect teeth and a perfect home and 2.5 wonderful children. Is that reality?
So while it’s possible for us to say that on the whole, the adverts are less sexist, certainly when compared to twenty or thirty years ago (unless you’re Volkswagen of course), that there is still the very minority of adverts that make it through, perhaps it’s -˜humor’ gone wrong, or a genuine misogynistic attitude that should have been left behind decades ago.
