Parents who don’t want their kids force-fed gender stereotypes over breakfast have a new ally.
The UK’s advertising industry regulator has announced that portrayals of little girls aspiring to be, say, a ballerina while boys hope to be, for instance, a scientist or doctor will be banned from the country’s ads. Many of these air during kids’ programs and target teens through social media.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) new rules build on existing legislation that prohibits ads that portray women as sexual objects or dangerously thin. The group released a report this week on the potential harm to children and adults of promoting gender stereotypes. Under the new rules, ads of women cleaning up alone after a messy family, men failing to do basic household chores, or children barred from an activity because it was “inappropriate” to their gender will be banned.
