How men can be allies for marginalised genders in media
Opinion: Career Leaders
We must challenge gender biases and actively support marginalised genders in the workplace to drive meaningful change.
The media industry can, by and large, claim progress on gender equity in leadership when compared to other creative industries. This has led to many holding it up as an example of success for women in leadership.
However, that’s by no means the full story. This was aptly picked apart by Pippa Glucklich in The Media Leader — who interrogated why ‘the women-in-media question’ is not just the wrong question, it’s a biased one. And we are nowhere near resolution on parity, even within the media.
While certain parts of our industry have shown (relatively) good movement on women leaders, there are parts of the industry where women are left behind. In the media industry, there are many women in leadership we can point to. But the media industry is a multifaceted business. Within coding, AI, software, analytics, language modelling, and wider technology teams—those signs of progress are harder to find.
The truth is, every part of the ecosystem needs to be impassioned about improving equality to effect real change. One part of that is looking at marginalised genders—cis women, trans women, and non-binary people—and the similar barriers to success faced by those groups. The other part is those who experience privilege as a result of their gender—cis men—learning to look for the signs of prejudice and checking both themselves and others.
When examining the experiences of marginalised genders in society, evidence of discrimination, mistreatment, and abuse is plentiful. In the UK (and the world), gender-based violence is one of the most common forms of human rights violations. In the UK, hate crimes towards trans people increase in number each year, with a 56% increase recorded between 2021 and 2022. Community activists and organisers hold spaces to protest against violence, harassment, and discrimination, such as Reclaim the Night and Trans+ Pride (the latter of which saw its highest numbers to date, with an estimated 35,000 in attendance).
Unfair treatment is not, however, limited to overt acts of violence or harassment. According to All In Census data, 29% of women believe that gender hinders their career progression.
But what can the group with power do to help? Many men want to empower those around them to succeed, but it’s hard to know where to begin. Insights from WPP’s Beyond the Rainbow report, which analysed the responses of 3,500 LGBTQ+ people from the UK, US, and Canada, reveal that “audiences will continue to get queerer and more fluid”, with younger people being 4.2 times more likely to identify as something other than ‘cisgender’ compared to the average adult. Of non-cisgender people, only half are completely ‘out’ at work, with worries of discrimination and mistreatment affecting their ability to live their authentic selves.
So, how can men be allies in the workplace? At GroupM, our Gender Employee Resource Group, GEN (Gender Equality Network) recently held a panel on the experiences of women working in tech within the media and advertising industry. Considering how technology can facilitate growth and learning, as well as identity exploration, their insights are particularly important. The topic of how men can support marginalised genders was thoroughly addressed by our panel, producing the following suggestions for them. These may be useful for everyone with privilege when considering marginalised communities:
Observe and reflect
The reality is that privilege is invisible to those who have it until it is brought to the forefront, explicitly acknowledged, or challenged. This advice is applicable not only to men but anyone who finds themselves having access to privilege.
Observe the dynamics around you and your own behaviour. Which voices are prioritised? Are people given equitable access to opportunity, or are some people selected repeatedly? Do we give feedback in a consistent way, or is bias affecting the way we evaluate others?
Following your observations, reflect on your own behaviour and seek to identify if there are ways in which you have allowed bias to impact your own behaviour. Embrace any potential feelings of discomfort that may arise, as they can act as a catalyst for change.
Speak up
Men can make a significant difference by speaking up against gender bias when they hear it and escalating it appropriately. By addressing biases head-on, they can help create an environment that demands respect and values everyone no matter their gender.
If the transgression is easily resolved in the moment, this can be simply ‘I’d like to hear the end of someone’s point who was interrupted’.
If it requires a conversation, it’s advisable to speak to someone aside from others, with kindness, and assuming neutral intent.
Explaining how they may have accidentally caused hurt to another colleague in a conversation of openness and moving forwards together can help people to take on learnings, rather than feel defensive or cornered.
Amplify
As well as speaking up against bias, it’s important for men — especially men in senior positions — to amplify the voices of all genders. They can make use of mentoring and sponsorship techniques to actively promote those less privileged and connect them with opportunities that will boost their profile and career.
For example, Bloom has a programme with an aim to spearhead change in the industry where they seek to engage men in ongoing gender debate.
Critically, they should also speak up on behalf of those who aren’t in the room — advocating for marginalised groups and countering any assumptions or stereotyping as they arise.
Learn
Often, women and people of other marginalised genders feel that their experiences are minimised or not taken seriously. Male allies can take the time to learn about and understand how biases affect them in the workplace. The value of understanding others’ struggles can help drive meaningful change.
Distribute
When working in teams, men can try to be more aware of the distribution of tasks and ensure that marginalised genders don’t end up being responsible for admin support. Specifically relating to technology, the Tendernet Collective addresses how much of our assistive technologies embody expectations of women in subservient roles.
By rotating responsibilities and offering everyone opportunities to engage in different areas of work, we avoid reinforcing biases, workload is fairer, and the full team is able to develop and grow into new areas.
Be mindful
Often, the qualities that we proclaim we value industry-wide are modelled after how we identify or judge them in men. For example, ‘likeability’ could mean a man is expected to be outspoken and gregarious, however, the same traits would be judged negatively in a feminine-presenting person.
Create and enact policies
Especially relevant for senior leaders, it’s important for everyone to understand and ensure the importance of making active efforts to ensure the company’s values and commitments are reflected in policies and support mechanisms such as shared parental leave. This can promote a better work-life balance and a sense of inclusivity for all genders.
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The media industry is slowly but surely progressing, but it’s important to communicate and actively challenge gender biases that still remain in the workplace. Things don’t change overnight; the power still lies with certain groups. It’s up to them to use their privilege as a unique opportunity to support and encourage this change.
Felix Moise (they/them) is diversity, equity and inclusion education specialist at GroupM UK. Contributors to this article include Blagorodna Stoycheva (she/her) associate director Business Excellence, Zuzanna Gierlinska (she/her), chief growth officer, GroupM Nexus UK, and Samantha Clacher-Chopra, (she/her), SVP product leader Choreograph.