What do you
think about when you think of the worldwide search engine, Google? I’ll tell you the first thing that came to my
mind when I thought of Google; answers.
Answers to all or any one question I might have. Tell me this, when you thought of Google, did
you think of gender inequality? Did you
think of sexist attitudes against women?
The United Nations found some interesting results.
The United Nations
started a powerful campaign using Google that showed and presented gender
inequality. What they did was place
pictures of women from all around the world and set them as the Google search
page. The search bar was placed across
their mouths as if to silence them. The
results were shocking. Researchers typed in statements like: “women
should” and “women cannot” and the autocomplete suggestions were pure, solid
examples that gender inequality is still very much alive. The autocomplete statements were as
followed: “women should stay at
home,” “women need to be put in their
place,” “women cannot be trusted,” and the list goes on and on to the point of
an autocomplete statement of: “women shouldn’t have rights.” The branch of the United Nations that focuses
on gender equality use these four-image series to showcase the “world’s
sweeping, misogynistic attitudes” towards women. The
PSAs were placed and distributed by UN women, the United Nations Entity for
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The goal of the ads was to be nothing but a “wakeup call” and in “hope
that the message will travel far.”
Yes, the
world has come a long way when thought about women’s rights and women’s places
among society but the views and opinions of women’s places still remain in
contact. The United Nations does a
fantastic job of portraying these worldwide sexist attitudes that are still
present. Sometimes, indeed, more is
heard from no words spoken. These ads do
just that. There is not a woman standing
on a platform voicing her opinions and wants, rather, it is the actions of
those all around the world that are displayed for all to see. The message of this United Nations campaign
will be heard, and it will be carried as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment