Distant Sisters - the paradoxes of gender equality

Recently there seem to be fewer 'marketing to women' conferences. Perhaps this reflects the difficulty of sustaining a gender agenda in the face of increasingly diverse lifestyles?

Let's highlight two paradoxes here. Firstly, researchers at the University of Warwick put it perfectly - "as women become more equal to men, they become less equal to one another". Where once womens' incomes occupied a relatively narrow band and regardless of paid work would be primary shoppers and carers, but not the 'head of household', these commonalities have been destroyed by (some) women's economic progress and single female households.

Second paradox: middle-class couples are more likely to espouse 'progressive' attitudes to gender roles but in fact less likely to subvert them in practice - role reversal is more commonly a feature of work-poor households than dual-earning ones.

Marketing to women must solve these riddles: progressive attitudes accompany traditional realities, and more equality means less equality.

Marketing Week 12 June 2008