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A Brave New Gender World

April 2008

Can messages channelled through the media help to change or even dismantle deeply engrained gender roles and stereotypes? Kathleen Van Brempt, the Flemish Community's Minister for Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities joined forces with the Flemish ESF Agency to explore that question. The outcomes of their media campaign were presented at a Peer Review that took place, on 28 and 29 February 2008, in Leuven.

Media professionals, ESF managers and members of Technical Support Structures from ten EU Member States went through a viewing session that was guided by the producers, editors or authors of the various elements of the campaign. The guests were invited to undertake an assessment of the Flemish achievements which were all generated under the brand name "MV United" which stands for "women and men united – perfect in balance."

A mix of media for a broad audience

The "flagship" of the campaign was a telenovela entitled Emma. This Cinderella-like story took the audience from an orphaned young woman trying to find her first job all the way along her steeply rising career that led to a top position in television. The story also included her search for the murderer of her father and was linked with at least two other plots. These were the life of Emma's friend, an immigrant woman, who was also trying to make it in the media and was caught between two cultures and the fight between an older talk show host and a young "shooting" star, who takes her place. The special thing about Emma was that her creators turned the television series into what they called a "transmedial experience." This involved the provision of downloads of the 103 episodes for use on mobile play stations and this was particularly appreciated by young people. In addition, 36 websites rolled out "Emma worlds" in which fans of the telenovela could identify even more closely with its characters. For months, a group of scriptwriters produced an Emma blog and blogs for all the other leading characters, which enabled interactive contact between enchanted fans and these fictional individuals. Some 15 Internet games also played a part in the chase and provided clues to catch the murderer. Real world additions to the Emma websites included contact adds and graffiti spread all over Flemish towns, which reinforced the Internet surfers' feelings of being part of this brave new world. Stef Wouters, production manager at VRT Flander's public television station and the "inventor" of Emma, thinks that people learn unconsciously from fiction. "Our frame of reference," he says, "is unconsciously built up by consuming fiction and so fiction is a small step to reality."

A defile of producers provided the participants at this Peer Review with glimpses of both the past and the future components of the MV United campaign: They proudly presented:

• The Groote Oversteek (The Big Switch) a documentary that featured men and women as they move from one village to another to create two communities - one completely female and one completely male. This switch made people change gender roles since every mono-sex couple had to cope with what is usually managed by a mixed couple. The weeklong social experiment carried out by VRT was complimented by a radio programme that deepened the discussions about the new experiences in the two villages;
• Daughters of Venus, a series of documentaries showing women who have made non-traditional occupational choices and produced by Vitaya, a commercial lifestyle channel;
• 180 – a melodrama about a single mother who is trying to get her life back on track after years of unemployment. This mini series targets, via regional television, an audience that is traditionally hard to reach and seeks to strengthen inter-agency approaches involving employment offices, counselling and training centres and education providers;
• Two special editions of TeamTime, a lifestyle magazine produced for a broad public, that focused on work-life-balance for women and men;
• A play, the production of which was combined with training for a group of young immigrants. The idea was three-fold. The play conveyed the message of respecting and valuing diversity, whilst the training was intended to support young women and men from different ethnic communities in heading for a career as actors. Last but not least, the project was designed to stimulate theatres, television channels and film producers to commit to diversity by hiring the young actors;
• A qualitative study entitled "CASANOVA – The New House(hold)" on role and task sharing between women and men that was based on focus groups of young immigrants, young people and "new" fathers.
   

In addition, booklets, brochures and flyers were produced and disseminated in large numbers to individuals and a wide range of organisations. These publications offer support and practical tips to dual career couples on how to balance gainful employment and family responsibilities and to women immigrants who are facing decisions about whether they should seek employment outside the home. Another brochure encourages immigrant women and men to embark on continuing education and the "He/she-does-that-calendar" is a kind of planning tool to help family members share the unpaid work at home.

Measuring the effects

The Flemish ESF Agency, which is leading and coordinating the campaign, has created a partnership that links public and commercial media, electronic and print media, political decision-makers, government institutions, NGOs and resource centres. The task of measuring the outreach, immediate response and lasting impact of the venture was entrusted to a communication specialist, Jos Huypens. He presented his report at the event, but said that because not all projects were completed, it was still too early to assess the outcomes of the campaign in terms of changes in peoples' thinking and attitudes. In addition, since at the beginning no specific measurable objectives were set and no zero-measurement was taken, it was virtually impossible to check whether any evolution had occurred.

However, a large outreach could be detected in most cases. Emma, for example, regularly attracted more than half a million viewers and a market share of 24%, which is higher than the average of 21.2% for VTR's "Eén" channel. In addition, some 79% of the Flemish population had seen at least one episode of Emma. Through the websites that were part of the different projects and also the focus groups in which people could offer comments and criticism, it became obvious that some of the products had been greatly appreciated.

It is interesting to note that the MV United projects have triggered a number of secondary effects during their lifespan. Jos Huypens emphasised that throughout Flanders, newspapers and magazines had published a large number of articles, reports and interviews on gender equality and diversity. When interviewed, the protagonists of the television series where not just asked about their roles, but also about what they considered to be a good solution to reconciling work and family in their own private lives. Huypens explained that "although in Flanders authors of editorials and columns have a limited readership, they can be considered as opinion leaders. They often gave their uncompromising and unvarnished views on the MV United projects such as - a sheer waste of government money, or poor story lines or superficial approaches to the issues." By providing positive, as well as such negative comments, these well known authors provoked lively discussions in groups and neighbourhoods and fuelled the public debate.

A transnational peer discussion

The "programme makers" and "decisions-makers" from public and private media companies in other Member States came up with dozens of questions that were typical of professionals fascinated by the work of their peers. Topics included markets, budgets, financing through the ESF and the input from the media involved and also the practical experiences of the production teams, for example, in shooting a social experiment such as the Grote Oversteek. In this case, a camera team was stationed in each of the two villages, working around the clock during the full week of the production. After the shooting, the two teams returned to find out if, and how, the "switch" had influenced peoples' daily lives. It turned out that men and women were now questioning their traditional roles and that they tended to value each other's work more than before. Lasting friendships had developed during the week of the exchange and the villages continue to stay in touch and to organise joint events.

Despite the difference in national media systems and markets in Europe, a number of the participants were considering importing some of the Flemish ideas. The Big Switch was particularly popular as it was felt that it could work in many national contexts and also kick-off a public debate about gender stereotypes. There was also an interesting discussion about the other formats. Whilst a number of producers and editors believed that gender equality messages could be transmitted by telenovelas, soap operas or dramas, others were not so convinced.

For instance, Riitta Pihlajamaik, Channel Manager of YLE TV1, in Finland, felt that discrimination of women in career development and in the work place was still very common. However, she believed that many women, particularly those in higher positions, would never speak about their own discrimination but that, "to launch a public debate about the issue you need real people to speak out." Eventually the debate concentrated on the special value of what was called a multi-layered media campaign. Does a campaign reinforce the policy messages that the politicians and financiers wish to convey? Do these messages need to be outspoken or rather subliminal? People agreed that the answer to these questions depended on the issues, target groups and cultural contexts.

A number of the participants found it difficult to identify the guiding thread that was meant to link the various elements of the campaign. Some advocated fewer messages and products, a longer life-span for the projects, a greater thematic focus and more effort to achieve sustainability. Others suggested that the priority should be targeting the senior decision-makers in the media and winning them over to a gender mainstreaming approach that could be applied to personnel policies and programming. The discussion revealed that the Flemish campaign had some of these features, but not all of these details had been included in the initial presentations because of time restrictions. VRT, for instance, is using a gender equality approach in its children's TV programmes. Other television channels have copied the idea of the Emma telenovela and are broadcasting similar series with similar messages. In addition, the public debate that followed the projects continues to make waves in Flanders that may well produce further changes. All those who have been pushing for gender equality for many years know how long and difficult that change process is. "Even if more women have made inroads into the male domains of broadcasting corporations, the situation is still not as it should be," said Sue Caro, Senior Manager at the BBC's Diversity Centre, "therefore we should take every opportunity to bring about change - all the approaches are good, be it campaigns, projects, training for professionals or convincing decision-makers."

A chain of Peer Reviews

This media Peer Review was organised in the framework of the European Community of Practice on Gender Mainstreaming (GM CoP.) Previous Peer Reviews have brought together decision-makers and practitioners from regional and local governments, employment offices and enterprises, in Graz, enabled exchange and networking amongst gender equality bodies and experts, in Dublin, and discussed gender equality as part of the personnel development of public and private enterprises, in Florence. All these events are documented on the Internet platform of the GM CoP, which is a meeting place for all those interested in gender equality and gender mainstreaming within the context of the ESF. It also acts as a warehouse that stocks gender equality products and tools from throughout the European Union including film footage from Flanders.

 

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