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That's how outdated views about women are!

October 24, 2013 10:14 IST

A new ad campaign from UN Women, an organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has highlighted how bigoted and outdated views about women still are even in the domain of cyberspace.

The ad campaign shows real suggested search terms that arrive from Google's auto-complete feature, which denounces sex equality.

For example, typing 'women shouldn't' brings up popular search terms, like 'women shouldn't work' and 'women shouldn't have rights', the report added.

Ogilvy and Mather Dubai's Christopher Hunt, who came up with the poster campaign, said the adverts show the results of genuine searches, highlighting popular opinions across the World Wide Web

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That's how outdated views about women are!

October 24, 2013 10:14 IST

The series of ads, developed as a creative idea for UN Women by Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, uses genuine Google searches to reveal the widespread prevalence of sexism and discrimination against women.

Based on searches dated March 9, 2013 the ads expose negative sentiments ranging from stereotyping as well as outright denial of women’s rights.

“When we came across these searches, we were shocked by how negative they were and decided we had to do something with them,” says Christopher Hunt, Art Director of the creative team. 

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That's how outdated views about women are!

October 24, 2013 10:14 IST

The idea developed places the text of the Google searches over the mouths of women portraits, as if to silence their voices.

“The ads are shocking because they show just how far we still have to go to achieve gender equality. They are a wake up call, and we hope that the message will travel far,” adds Kareem Shuhaibar, copy writer.

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That's how outdated views about women are!

October 24, 2013 10:14 IST

For UN Women, the searches confirm the urgent need to continue making the case for women’s rights, empowerment and equality, a cause the organization is pursuing around the world.

UN Women is heartened by the initial strong reaction to the ads and hopes they will spark constructive dialogue globally.

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October 24, 2013 10:14 IST

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