Those who know me know that, as an employee there, I self-identify with Canadian Tire. I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and of course when I saw the words "Canadian Tire" I knew I had to click.
How one Canadian retailer is pushing back on gender stereotypes
I just happened to be at work when I read this so I figured I'd check the rest of the flyer to see if it broke gender stereotypes in other ways; to see if this was the only example. Unfortunately, it seems to be the only example - girls wear pink and play with dolls while boys wear blue and play with cars throughout the rest of the book (which you can find here).
Despite the lack of progressive gender roles throughout the flyer, I do agree that this is an important step in redefining gender roles. In history, it has been proven that too much change can negatively impact a goal. Perhaps by using one picture demonstrating progressive gender roles, Canadian Tire is able to begin to change without receiving too much backlash.
Despite the lack of progressive gender roles throughout the flyer, I do agree that this is an important step in redefining gender roles. In history, it has been proven that too much change can negatively impact a goal. Perhaps by using one picture demonstrating progressive gender roles, Canadian Tire is able to begin to change without receiving too much backlash.
It has also caught my attention how people expect to find such stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer I worked in the Home Depot, in the lumber department, and I usually did my shift together with a female co-worker. Almost 100% of the time a customer came to ask us to cut something on the panel saw, they would look at me - whether they were male or female clients! One female customer even was astonished when I said that my female colleague actually knew how to operate the equipment, too. Well, I hope that those experiences helped them to change a little bit the stereotyped expectations.
I worked at Canadian Tire for 4 almost 5 years. I was confronted with sterotypical comment daily. "Do you know what a screw driver is" "Can you call a guy to help me with the drill bits?" "You're a young lady, you should be up on cash! This is a man's department" "You lost miss?" it goes on and on. I enjoyed proving this sterotypical fellows (some ladies) wrong. They would either act surprised and were happy and turn into a regular of mine, OR they would turn up their nose at me and would hardly say a word. If I helped a customer fully and then asked to speak to a man but knew 100% my manager and any man in my department (There was lik 3 and i worked there longer anf trained 2 of them) would tell them the same thing I just did, I would leave them in the aisle. Break the horrible sterotype, dont let anyone treat you less because you're a woman.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting! In my gender studies class we discussed gender stereotypes and how they really do an injustice to the progression of our society. Exposure is key! If more advertisements casually showcase gender breaking stereotypes like these, the more our society will become desensitized. Hopefully in the future advertisements will not use these for a political statement and actually just use them normally.
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