The UN sector that focuses on gender equality has released a new campaign that uniquely showcases the inequality women face throughout the world. It uses Google searches to portray the stereotypical images and attitudes towards women.
The four images used capture different faces of women from a variety of ethnicities. At the mouth of each face is the beginning of a Google search: “women should,” “women shouldn’t, “women cannot,” and “women need to” and their results: “women shouldn’t have rights” and “women need to be put in their place.”
The ads are based on Google autocomplete searches from around March 9th. The Google search bar is placed on top of the women’s mouths to enforce how silenced thousands of women across the world are because of these misogynistic thoughts.
“The ads are shocking because they show just how far we still have to go to achieve gender equality,” said an agent from Dubai-based agency that created the ads for the UN. “They are a wake up call, and we hope that the message will travel far.”
They are a wake up call. In what many call a progressive day and age, it is hard to remember the inequality that still exists in all parts of the world. However, as these searches showcase, they are extremely prevalent. They are found in every stereotype society creates, every joke, and every discrepancy found between women and men. Like the search boxes emphasize, women are silenced. Gender inequality still exists. It is an issue that has to be worked on consistently for it to be truly destroyed. Women with the same capabilities and strengths as men are being oppressed in all ways. This is one of the most important and hushed issues in today’s society. However, by not talking about it all we are doing is oppressing women even more.