Women in Advertising Cinema

3M Skilled Series: Trades Practiced by Women

We live in times when topics such as gender equality and parity are discussed daily in the media and across social networks. The pursuit of equity in access and participation in political, professional, artistic, and other spaces is merely a reflection of a society still burdened by stigma, stereotypes, and exclusionary opportunities—where women must work twice, or even three times as hard, to gain recognition that would be more easily given to a man, even when they have the same skills, talent, and/or training. This is also true in the world of cinema and advertising.

We even see it in fiction. Have you ever watched Mad Men, the series about advertisers set in the 1960s? For those who have—and those who haven’t—it portrays the advertising world where a group of men (managers and creatives) make all the decisions, while women are relegated to roles like secretaries or assistants.

In our country, there are also bad examples of how women have been portrayed in advertising.

Remember that beer for women that was worse than the national reality itself? That commercial aired almost 10 years ago. Despite Backus (a subsidiary of the giant SABMiller) investing $2 million in the campaign, the beer eventually disappeared from the market. The Quara commercial was an ode to stereotypes.

Or take this ad—and several others—where if you search “spot + diapers + Peru,” you’ll find that every single one is targeted only at mothers, with fathers rendered practically invisible.

Do men not raise their children or what?

On the other hand, it would be unfair not to acknowledge that more and more women’s names are being heard in Peruvian cinema. Take Melina León, for instance, who with her debut film Song Without a Name earned several well-deserved national and international awards. Or Rossana Díaz Costa, who last year managed—through great effort—to premiere the well-received film adaptation of the famous novel A World for Julius.

Let’s also not forget that the first—and so far, only—Peruvian film to be nominated for an Oscar (The Milk of Sorrow) was directed by a woman: Claudia Llosa. However, we must not ignore a parallel and concerning reality.

I found it quite interesting to analyze the roster of professionals making waves in Peru’s advertising film industry today—an industry that is steadily expanding, but that for years has revealed a clear pattern: the number of female directors and filmmakers in audiovisual advertising is minimal—nearly invisible. Evidence of this is how difficult it is to even find their names online. It took me over an hour to find the first female profile in a directorial role—one woman among five men. As I continued researching various collectives and production houses, I found a stark male dominance in this role—unlike the field of production, which is more frequently filled by women, though the gender ratios there are less severe.

NUNA: Association of Women Directors in Peru

The main question that arises from this search is: Are there really so few Peruvian women directors capable of leading an advertising project? What factors contribute to this continued imbalance? And what can we, as communication professionals, do to encourage and foster the visibility of female filmmakers in this part of the industry? One possible path is to promote exposure to specialties that are currently associated with a male profile within educational institutions. Moreover, it’s crucial that we, from our own positions within the industry, participate actively and vigilantly in seeking out and showcasing our female colleagues—who undoubtedly deserve the space and opportunity to contribute to the development of the art and content of advertising cinema in our country.

Author:

Geraldine Andicoechea / Executive Producer