Sex-role stereotyping and sex discrimination regulation in advertising: the belgian case

Resumo

This study adds to the discussion (semi-)legal mechanisms for the regulation of advertising sexism in the Belgian context. Presently, Belgium does not have specific legislation against sexist advertising. The gender advertising legislation currently includes general anti-discrimination laws and industry self-regulation. The Jury for Ethical Practices in Advertising is Belgium’s self-regulatory body. Its decisions are based on the International Chamber of Commerce’s Consolidated Code of advertising and marketing communication practice, the Belgian national advertising codes and ‘all applicable statutory regulations’. The aim of this study is to determine whether this existing system of self-regulation is an effective and successful mechanism to ward off sexism from advertising. For this purpose, 125 cases were selected from the judgments issued between 1999 and 2012 about advertising that were considered gender-unfriendly by complainants. Their analysis served to clarify how the Jury deals with such complaints and whether they give concrete substance to their standards through their practice. The arguments and criteria used by the Jury were measured against a more theoretical definition of sexist advertising based on academic literature. The results support, at least in part, the conclusion that this mechanism has some serious shortcomings and that there is need for serious (legal) intervention in the existing system.