INFORMATION IS POWER
Much of the discussion on gender and information issues globally has focused on the damaging depiction of traditional gender stereotypes by the mainstream mass media, and the ‘commodification’ of women’s bodies for marketing of (other) consumer goods. Some other issues are presented on this site at our Gender & Communication page.
In a developing country situation the use of information to empower women and to promote gender equality presents some additional challenges of access and connectivity especially where the rate of girls’ education and literacy is still significantly less than that of boys. In such a situation the use of print media is very limited, as is internet which requires not only good access which may be expensive if available at all but also literacy.
In general the expectations for transformative effects of the Internet have not been realized in the so-called developing world in for example enabling women, usually envisaged as being isolated in their families and homes, to contact each other, to organize in groups for political or economic purposes, to access information on agriculture, marketing, health care which would otherwise not be available to them?
Whilst there has been a lot of investment and some gains there still remain some formidable obstacles to the successful popular use of the Internet in this way. With a few exceptions still heavily underwritten by donors such as the UN, or by philanthropic institutions Internet use has not taken root at the grass-roots.
Some of the rather formidable obstacles to the transformative powers of the internet are connectivity, literacy, language, and costs. These features ensure that its use is still largely confined to the educated, better-off and younger age-groups in those countries where internet access is good. And in a surprisingly large number of countries…. even for example in the high middle income countries of the Middle East….internet access cannot be taken for granted (See internetworldstats.com/)
There are of course some success stories. The Kothmale Internet Community Radio project in Sri Lanka uses community radio as an interface between the Internet and rural communities and has been of particular benefit to women in the community kothmale.org/ and the Virtual Souk Website which gives artisans in several Arab countries direct contact to tourists and international customers has spawned a host of similar efforts usually NGO-based (araboo.com)
The New Information Technology which has taken off in a big way and has demonstrated amazing power to transform people’s lives by keep them in touch with each other and by enabling them to access information normally monopolized by governments, institutions or corporations is mobile phone technology. This is cheap, and requires only the power of speech to employ it fully.
The most often cited example of the developmental power of the mobile phone is perhaps the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat where women have successfully linked themselves into the market economy thanks to their mobile phones. Read all about them at www.sewa.org
Amongst so-called ‘old media’ the radio remains a significant force for good which includes the empowerment of women. Radios are cheap, portable and user friendly, and have a long tradition of phone-ins and other types of audience participation. The work of the FAO-Dimitra project mainly in Africa with community radio in combination with face to face communication and Internet is testament to the durability of this medium and its effectiveness for supporting social change ( fao.org/dimitra)
Effective approaches in terms of providing support to social change such as gender empowerment seem to be those which use a variety of media new & old/electronic & print/mass & interpersonal in a coordinated way & most importantly give possibility for the audience to talk back.
Usually it is necessary to identify first which human communicators reach and are influential with women and to provide support to them with information from electronic & print media if appropriate. This can result in some surprising combinations of course. Often those ‘gate-keepers’ who have restricted and controlled women’s access to information can be converted into agents of change. There are for example in Egypt some religious leaders who have spoken out against Female Genital Mutilation, and traditional midwives who have lent their built-in credibility with women to support the introduction of condoms for contraception and as protection against the HIV/AIDS virus. In Bangkok the police were famously employed to provide condoms to prostitutes rather than arresting them, in fact condom use appears to have been a condition for non-arrest and non-closure of brothels which are anyway illegal.
Although the term ‘social marketing’ is no longer fashionable & has always been anathema to some people because of its associations with ‘crass commerce’ it still has much to offer to those of us involved in ‘marketing’ social products such as gender equality & women’s empowerment.
Actually the essence of marketing is not money, (or not necessarily & only money) but the orientation of all activities to the consumer/the client. It is orientation towards the Consumer or the Person which articulates the famous 4 Ps of marketing? Product, Place, Price and Promotion?
This probably seems so obvious to us that we should look first at the reverse of consumer –orientation?
The reverse of consumer-orientation is product-orientation. If you are product-oriented you will probably just run an advertising campaign designed for a mass audience to tell them that the product exists and this is the price. You can afford to do this if you have a monopoly of some essential & desirable item. One used to see this kind of advertising for sugar, electricity, farm equipment and dentistry. If you think that you have everything that the consumer wants then you just need to tell them where to get it. Old -style agricultural extension activities were like this; no attempt was made to persuade or explain, or to try to touch the farmers “responsive chord” by presenting the innovation in a way as if it were essential to the current social context. Unfortunately of course ‘gender equality’ does not always fall into the category of ‘essential and desirable’.
If you are consumer-oriented then your segmentation and analysis of the audience will affect the way you shape your communication towards the different potential clients ; the choice of media, the type of message (humorous, factual, reassuring by addressing existing fears and barriers etc); the language and visuals used; the sequence of messages over time.
This audience analysis will also affect the final product design and packaging; where you will place it; what are the costs of purchasing this…thinking both in terms of material and non-material costs.
Men or women accept change if it is worthwhile in their terms; they may need to “exchange” old habits or beliefs, or face public criticism, or get some training or pay some money…but if they think this innovation/new product is worth it, in terms of material and non-material costs then it will probably take root. This applies to gender equality as any other ‘product’. And it should be recognized that it is not always women who are the first to accept or to promote gender equality. Very often it is men who are more exposed to new ideas, and are used to being opinion leaders & agents of change who also ‘dare’ to support changes in gender roles and behaviour. Some research on attitudes to Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt for example have shown that village men who had travelled abroad for work were more amenable to changing this cultural practice, for a variety of reasons including sexual satisfaction, whereas women saw themselves as responsible to keep the cultural flame alight!
Though it is often unacceptable to the high & or serious-minded amongst whom we count ourselves to talk about ‘marketing’ in relation to social products such as gender equality we believe that there are some important lessons to be derived from successful marketing and advertizing. First, clearly define whom you are trying to reach, in what sequence and in what combinations; you may have to first reach and gain the support of male ‘gate-keepers’ of information; second, do not assume anything about your intended audiences’ attitudes to the product, or their access to and evaluation of various media channels which could be used to reach them; do not assume what is self-evidently interesting & good to you has the same appeal, nor conversely that anything that benefits women will be supported by them and opposed by men!
Some old classics which still have something to say to us all are:
Ogilvy on Advertising
by David Ogilvy Vintage Books (1985)
The Responsive Chord
by Tony Schwarz, Anchor Press (1972)
Social Marketing: a New Imperative for Public Health
by Richard K. Manoff Praeger Publishers (1985)
Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations
by Philip Kotler, Prentice-Hall Inc 1982)