With a new campaign, challenger Starling Bank wants to point out that women are not portrayed respectfully when dealing with money.
While men are often photographed with banknotes, women are more likely to be seen with penny coins and piggy banks.
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This infantilisation is most evident in images of women enthusiastically putting their money into piggy banks or money boxes or even hugging them (in 24% of images of women compared to 8% of men).
Men are most often shown with banknotes (53% versus 44%), while women are more likely to be depicted with coins, often pennies (25% versus 13%).
In addition, stock photos often infantilize or misrepresent women’s relationship with money. This finding comes from a study by Starling Bank and Brunel University.
The researchers concluded that this portrayal has real consequences. It not only negatively affects the way women are treated in financial matters, but also how they view themselves and their money management.
Anne Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank, said: “We launched our Make Money Equal campaign three years ago, examining the discrepancy in the language used when talking to women and men about money in the media.”
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“Today we look at the images used on thousands of websites and in print media. They have revealed some very stark inequalities in the way women are portrayed in relation to money compared to men,” she added.
“We need fewer piggy banks and pennies, more women in leadership positions and more diversity overall,” the CEO said.
Professor Shireen Kaji of Brunel, who co-authored the report, added: “These representations are really important. They not only negatively affect how people are treated, but also how they see themselves in relation to money, which is usually used as a symbol of power, influence and freedom.”
To accelerate some improvements, Starling has partnered with Lensi Photography. Together, they will create a new image library of 100 royalty-free photos that anyone can use and that better represent women and money.
