• About the Authors
  • Blogs and Shows
  • Journals
  • Open Invitation
  • References
  • Resources
  • Taxonomy
  • Who’s Who?

Media Psychology

~ Informing, Educating and Influencing

Media Psychology

Tag Archives: Stereotypes

Distracted Boyfriend meme is sexist, rules Swedish ad watchdog

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by Ken S. Heller in Media Effects, Media Psychology, Psychology

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#MeToo, Advertising, Internet, Marketing, Memes, Sexism, Stereotypes

From The Guardian

Popular image of man ogling another woman deemed degrading and discriminatory

The popular Distracted Boyfriend meme, based on a photo of a man turning away from his outraged girlfriend to stare admiringly at another woman, has been ruled sexist by Sweden’s advertising ombudsman.

The stock image, also known as Man Looking at Other Woman, by Antonio Guillem, a photographer from Barcelona, was named meme of the year in April and was one of the most widely shared memes in 2017, providing comment on anything from music to politics to hit TV shows.

I didn’t know what a meme was, says Distracted Boyfriend photographer

The ombudsman said recruitment advertisements posted on Facebook by the internet services provider Bahnhof, which labelled the boyfriend “You”, the girlfriend “Your current workplace”, and the second woman “Bahnhof”, were gender-discriminatory, the Local reported.

“The advertisement objectifies women,” the ombudsman, RO, said. “It presents women as interchangeable items and suggests only their appearance is interesting … It also shows degrading stereotypical gender roles of both men and women and gives the impression men can change female partners as they change jobs.”

The ombudsman said the image objectified the two women by presenting them as workplaces, but the man as an individual, and added that the “other woman” was clearly a “sex object … unrelated to the advertisement, which is for recruiting salespeople, operating engineers and a web designer”.

Advertisement

The Swedish advertising industry is self-regulating, meaning that the ombudsman can criticise ads but it does not have the power to impose sanctions.

The ad, posted in April, drew nearly 1,000 comments, many from women who complained it was sexist. “1. You really don’t want to attract women to your company,” one commenter, Susanne Lahti Hagbard, said. “2. You really don’t want to attract sensible guys either.”

Another, Sofie Sundåker, said: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a popular meme. If you do not see how this picture is sexist whatever words are on the people, you are clearly not a workplace for any woman who wants to be taken seriously in her work.”

The company said on its Facebook page that its aim had been “to illustrate a situation that shows Bahnhof is an attractive employer, and that people who have a slightly duller workplace might be interested in us. This was the situation illustrated in this meme.

“Anyone familiar with the internet and meme culture knows how this meme is used and interpreted. Gender is usually irrelevant in the context. We explained meme culture to the ombudsman, but it chose to interpret the post differently”.

If the company should be punished for anything, it concluded, “it should be for using a tired old meme”.

While it frequently features near the top of world gender-equality rankings, a 2016 study found Sweden was the worst of the Nordic countries at combating sexist advertising. This year, Stockholm council voted to bar ads deemed sexist or degrading from the city’s public billboards.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Ken Heller on

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,694 other followers

Media Psychology

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Blog Stats

  • 84,363 hits

Archives

  • December 2020 (3)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (8)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (11)
  • August 2019 (7)
  • July 2019 (4)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (7)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (5)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (4)
  • October 2018 (5)
  • September 2018 (8)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (4)
  • June 2018 (3)
  • May 2018 (6)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (6)
  • January 2018 (6)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (5)
  • October 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (5)
  • July 2017 (5)
  • June 2017 (5)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (3)
  • November 2016 (2)
  • October 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • May 2016 (6)
  • April 2016 (4)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (1)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (4)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (4)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (1)
  • September 2013 (1)
  • August 2013 (4)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (1)
  • March 2013 (4)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (6)

Addiction Advertising Agenda Setting Al-Jazeera Associated Press Behavioralism Bernays Cartoons Causality Cognitive Correlation Cultivation Theory Digital Immigrants Digital Natives Ellul Facebook Fallacious Arguments Film Framing Gaming Gerbner Giles Google Greenwald ICT Identity Imagery Impact of ICT Influence Ingress Internet Internet.org Journalism Marketing McCombs McLuhan Mean World Sydrome Media Media Effects Media Literacy Media Psychology Mobile Computing Mobile Phones Moscow Olympics Neural Pathways news coverage Operant Conditioning Persuasive Technology Physiological Psychology Pinterest Potter Prensky Privacy Propaganda Psychological Effects Psychological Operations Psychology Public Diplomacy Public Relations Quotes Sexism Skinner Smartphone Social Change Social Identity Social Media Social Networks Social Psychology Sports Taylor Technology The Engineering of Consent Transmedia Twitter Walking Dead

RSS The Amplifier – APA Div. 46 Newsletter

  • Feminism for Tweens and Teens
  • Political Correctness Meets Cancel Culture
  • President’s Column: Moral Panics Aplenty
  • Influence of Academic Media Evaluation on the Diversity of Psychological and Social Science Research
  • Grad Stepping Program: Promoting Underrepresented Students in Media Psychology

RSS APA Div. 46 Media Psychology and Technology Facebook Feed – Come check it out!

  • Kids Are Using Minecraft To Design A More Sustainable World 06/07/2015
  • Home – UsMeU 05/07/2015
  • Huggable Robot Befriends Girl in Hospital 03/07/2015
  • Lifelong learning is made possible by recycling of histones, study says 03/07/2015
  • Synthetic Love: Can a Human Fall in Love With a Robot? – 24/06/2015

RSS Changing Minds

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

RSS Media Smarts

  • Become a MediaSmarts Teacher Champion 25/05/2022
    Become a MediaSmarts Teacher ChampionWe are always looking for teachers to help test resources and be the first to give feedback on our new materials. We truly value the opportunity to work with educators to make our resources better and to learn more about the kinds of materials that would support digital media literacy programming in the classroom. MediaSm […]

RSS Adam Curtis

  • HYPERNORMALISATION 11/10/2016
    Adam Curtis introduces his new epic film

RSS Media Psychology Blog

  • does resurge work : Resurge weight reduction supplement is a... 10/04/2020
    does resurge work : Resurge weight reduction supplement is a distinct advantage program that would bolster your ascent to control. It will change you and make you more grounded than at any other time with improved wellbeing that can assist you with getting away from heftiness. This Resurge audit tells how the Supplement will help your lack of sleep and weigh […]

RSS The Psych Files

  • When Good People Do Bad Things 20/05/2020
    For years, the Stanford Prison Study has been used to tout the idea that putting any individual in a position of absolute control brings out the worst in them (and in a more general sense, that people conform to the roles they’re placed in). An article appearing in Scientific American (Rethinking the Infamous Stanford Prison Experiment) includes new informat […]

RSS The Media Zone

  • And He Knew All the Words 24/11/2014
    Stuart Fischoff pioneered Media Psychology. He was a TV talk-show shrink—until it got too rowdy even for him. He knew all the words to Sondheim. And now he's gone.

RSS The Media Psychology Effect

  • Media Psychology Takes Center Stage: From War Images to AI 01/04/2022
    Media psychology has taken center stage as a field whose time is now!

RSS On The Media

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Media Psychology
    • Join 4,694 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Media Psychology
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: