Every year on International Women’s Day, organizations scramble to show their support for women and to let the world know that they stand firmly on the side of gender equality. Every year, like clockwork, these same organizations show us that IWD is merely an opportunity for vapid virtue signalling with their comms reeking of misogynistic takes. The lack of nuance and general nonchalant attitude is really what bothers me. From power women tropes to ‘you can do it all’ mantras, it’s exhausting to sift through the deluge of posters, fliers and lists that plague the day. You would think, however, given the blowback so many organizations get on this day due to the sheer level of tact, that people would be a little bit more careful. You know, actually take the time to figure out how not to make a tone-deaf poster? Testing it out first? Anything other than what they seem to be doing. At this point, a simple poster is actually enough because the race to be ‘witty’ and ‘different’ is quite frankly embarrassing. Seems like nothing has changed because here we are rounding up 5 of the worst things we saw on IWD. Enjoy.
1) Stanbic
I don’t know what’s worse sometimes, being sexist on purpose, or trying to use feminist language and falling woefully short…so, what Stanbic IBTC was TRYING to do (key word: TRYING) was to say that women can be anything and do anything, and shouldn’t restricted by stereotypes like “women belong in the kitchen” but saying “seving shouldn’t JUST be a kitchen affair” ironically puts women back in the same gender stereotype box…I think they were also trying to make a tennis joke…basically, this one should have stayed in the drafts
2) Fearless
Apparently, the marketing department at Fearless felt that it would be a good idea to settle for this image for IWD fearless, which depicts a lone woman standing with a finger in her mouth. If you look closely, at her head-tie and dress, there are several depictions of stereotypical women’s work’. I think what’s particularly offensive are the images of young girls holding babies. For starters, it has nothing to do with the ad and secondly, there’s nothing ’empowering’ of seeing images of young girls in mothering roles. It’s disgusting. The copy on the poster is even more disturbing. On IWD, Fearless not only reminds women that they are referred to as ‘weaker vessels’ but that they need to ‘prove their energy with the limitations they wrestle’. How inspiring!
3) Wema Bank
See what happens when a brand tries to joke with us? It always falls flat like…we’re not friends, just do your bank work and go…there’s so much to unpack here, from the Shakespeare reference (sidenote: Nigerian schools love that dead white man…) to the misinterpretation of the “coven” meme: Nigerian feminists are just reclaiming a label that has been placed upon women who don’t conform…it wasn’t really a choice, it’s half-ironic. And brands that barely have one or two women in positions of power are not in on the joke…also why is this so long, just make your #happyIWDday tweet and go
4) Nigerian Bar Association
While the Nigerian Bar Association, along with every other law institution in this country (especially law schools) are known to be rife with misogyny and just about every other form of discrimination there is, this factor did not encourage them to ensure to be very measured with their post for International Women’s Day. Instead, the Bar Association felt that it would be a good idea to collate images of multiple women in their organization and set a man smack in the middle of this image Bar Association. This was not only thoughtless but feels extremely purposeful and filled with bad intentions. Once again, we are disappointed.
5) Nigerian Police Force
SOo, obviously we weren’t expecting much from the Nigerian police force, especially when it comes to women’s rights but the audacity to post a women’s day message at all, when this is the same police force responsible for the death of Ifeoma Abugu, who was arrested without cause and was most likely violated sexually before her death..isn’t this the same Nigerian police force that sacked a member of the force for the crime of getting pregnant while unmarried? That is the Nigerian police force that wants to “celebrate” women? Hm…
