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UK caught in the
Gender Blender
November 2012
A report from
Foreword by
Sharon Flaherty 2
Editor, Confused.com
Men have it worse than comments on our website, or through our social
women when it comes media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.
to insurance. Statistically We think the EU Gender Directive is a gender
more of a risk on the tax on women but we cannot stop the EU gender
roads and with shorter life ruling from going ahead. However, we can help
expectancies, it’s a double both women and men who want to save money.
whammy for the boys who, The car insurance market has already responded
on average, pay more for with new technology, known as telematics or
both car and life insurance. ‘black box’ technology, which can monitor how
However, this is set to change the individual drives and then prices drivers’
and years of data and intelligence gathered by insurance according to their skills instead of
insurance companies will be metaphorically relying on statistics from people with similar
thrown out of the window as financial products, demographics. Taking all of this on board, we
including life insurance and car insurance, become think the future of personal finance is about the
gender-neutral. This is the result of the EU gender individual, not about rating groups of people
ruling, which comes into play on 21 December by gender or postcode or other demographics.
2012. At Confused.com we think the ruling is Welcome to the future of our country, a place
unfair but we wanted to investigate both sides of where gender does not matter, or does it? That’s
the gender debate and to do so enlisted the help what we have set out to explore and we are
of futurologists at the Future Laboratory to look at pleased to reveal our findings here.
the wider issue of gender neutrality in the UK and
Europe. We’d like to share these findings with you In this report,
and we invite you to air your views with us via we explore this new Power of Me….
Methodology 3
2,000
Fieldwork was carried out by
The Future Laboratory for
Confused.com. Unless otherwise
stated this is the source of all
statistics quoted in this report.
Desk research and phone
interviews were also carried out
by The Future Laboratory for
Confused.com, during October
and November 2012.
UK adults were surveyed online
between 16 and 19 October 2012.
Table of Contents
2 Foreword by Sharon Flaherty
3 Methodology
4 Meet the Experts
6 Introduction
7 Nurture not Nature
9 Brainwashed Babies
10 Role Reversal
12 Gender Injustice
14 Sexual Confusion
15 A Female Future
16 Conclusion
Meet the Experts 4
In this report, we will hear from:
Elise Claeson
Newspaper and magazine columnist, former equality expert at
the Swedish Confederation of Professions, and specialist in gender
neutrality, she fears that gender-neutral schools and homes will
profoundly undermine our society in the workplace, in our child-
rearing and in the bedroom.
Emma Moore
Emma Moore & her sister were becoming increasingly alarmed by
overtly gender-segregated, sexist products aimed at young children.
They decided something had to be done to stem the tide, and from
this concern, Pinkstinks was born. Pinkstinks is a campaign that
targets the products, media and marketing that prescribe heavily
stereotyped and limiting roles to young girls. They believe that
all children – girls and boys – are affected by the ‘pinkification’ of
girlhood. Their aim is to challenge and reverse this growing trend.
They also promote media literacy, self-esteem, positive body image
and female role models for kids.
Lise Eliot
A neuroscientist at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine
and Science, and author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small
Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps—And What We Can Do
About It, she discovered that boys and girls are born gender neutral
– then programmed to be different by their parents and peers.
Meet the Experts 5
In this report, we will hear from:
Liza Mundy
A fellow at the New America Foundation and author of The Richer
Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming
Sex, Love and Family, she describes the emergence of a Reverse
Gender Gap as successful women out-perform and out-earn men,
upending patterns of matchmaking, marriage, and motherhood, and
creating new conflict between the sexes.
Gareth Kloet and Matt Lloyd, Confused.com
Gareth is head of car insurance at Confused.com, and Matt heads
up the life insurance department. They fear that attempts to create
a more gender-blind country will lead to unintended injustices,
and unfair price rises, unless new and innovative approaches are
adopted by companies and individuals alike.
Tom Savigar, Chief Strategic Officer
Tom Savigar is a partner and chief strategy officer at The Future
Laboratory, and joined the business in 2005. He oversees the
company’s consultancy products and services. The Future
Laboratory is a leading consumer insight, trend forecasting and
brand innovation consultancy with international reach. Tom
frequently presents at conferences worldwide on subjects like the
future of consumer trends, technology, retail, luxury, marketing
and branding.
Introduction 6
Britain is being
put through the
Gender Blender
A new battle has begun in Britain’s long-running abilities, rather than their sexual stereotype.
sex wars. The rallying cry is that equality It’s clear that gender has never mattered
between the sexes is no longer enough. less to the UK population. A Future Laboratory
Instead, all differences between men and survey shows:
94% 89%
women must be wiped out. And victory will
only be declared when we have a Gender-Blind
Britain.
A first salvo has been fired by the European
Union, where a new rule has been introduced
(effective from 21 December 2012 onwards) of people in the UK believe of people in the UK prefer
making it illegal for insurance companies to base
insurance premiums on gender.
that a person’s gender to be seen as a person,
Suddenly, insurers are in the front line of a should not affect how they before being seen as a man
fight to stop gender equality turning into gender are treated in society. or a woman.
injustice, rapidly introducing technology, such
as the Confused.com MotorMate app to ensure These beliefs are uniform across all demographics.
drivers’ premiums are judged on individual
So, the battle lines are drawn: the law is What do you think the world would be like if it
beginning to demand gender neutrality and the didn’t take any notice of people’s gender?
revolutionary idea has huge popular support.
Now, the question must be: what are the
forces that lie behind thousands of years of
sexual stereotyping, can they be overcome Better 61%
overnight, and what will be the consequences
for the future of love, work, and childhood in
the UK?
The Same 25%
Worse 14%
Nurture not Nature 7
“Assertions of innate sex differences in
the brain are either blatantly false, cherry-
picked from single studies, or extrapolated
from research into rats without being
confirmed in people.”
—Neuroscientist and author
Lise Eliot
74%
of the British public believe
children should be raised
the same way regardless of
whether they are boys or girls.
This belief is significantly stronger in women (77%)
than it is in men (69%).
It’s clear that all the old gender stereotypes compared with almost a quarter of women (23%)
are alive and kicking in the UK today, and that who feel the same way.
driving, in particular, is still a sexual battleground. But neuroscientist and author Lise Eliot
More than a third (36%) of women who had argues that our ability to drive well, to talk about
faced sex discrimination said it happened when emotions, to read maps, are not set in stone by
they were behind the wheel of a car. Only one in our genes or our hormones.
ten (12%) of men who had faced gender injustice Instead, we are programmed to be girls and
had experienced it while driving. boys by the words and actions of our parents and
Older motoring stereotypes die hard: Almost our friends.
half (45%) of men believe men are better drivers ‘Kids rise or fall according to what we believe
than women, compared with one fifth (22%) about them,’ she says. ‘Pre-schoolers are already
of women who share the same sentiment. aware of what’s acceptable to their peers and
Conversely, just one in ten (9%) of men believe what’s not.’
that women are better drivers than men, ‘Assertions of innate sex differences in the
brain are either blatantly false, cherry-picked
8
from single studies, or extrapolated from research
into rats without being confirmed in people.’ defects that mean they have to be surgically
‘There is little solid evidence in human studies reassigned as girls are perfectly able to form
of sex differences in children’s brains. The idea healthy gender identities as girls, if that’s how
that girls’ brains are wired for communication and they are raised.’
boys’ for aggression is simply a fallacy.’ Lise points out that these often unconscious
‘We still live in a clear two-gender culture. But stereotypes have bent society out of shape. ‘This
rather than being something we are born with, notion that our gender roles are hard-wired at
our gender identity is set by the nurturing of our birth has done a lot of damage, especially to
parents and the pressures of our peers.’ boys,’ she says. ‘Our educational expectations
‘In the nature v nurture argument about are lower for boys and that is why we are seeing
gender, nurture is a clear winner.’ Many large- a reading and writing gap growing between the
scale, scientific studies show that there is very genders, with boys on the wrong side of the
little difference between the brains of newborn divide.’
boys and girls. However, she has hope for the future. ‘Perhaps
‘Very young boys and girls have very similar we are starting to send different messages to
emotional, physical, and communications skills. our daughters,’ says Lise Eliot. ‘It was telling that
But they are taught to behave differently by the President Obama, in his victory speech, praised
bias and expectations of their parents and friends his girls as smart and strong first, and only tacked
about masculine and feminine behaviour. ‘and beautiful’ on the end.’
‘Boys cry just as much as girls until about the
age of four when they start to get the message Britain is sitting on the fence on the nature versus nurture
from other, often older, boys that this is not a debate when it comes to gender differences.
masculine way to behave.
‘Parents value courage more in boys,
encouraging them to be physically daring. It’s
“Nature made us different sexes and we
the reverse with girls, where studies show that should be treated differently.”
mothers consistently underestimate how physically
able their female children are.’
In her book, Lise described a study in which
parents were asked to estimate how steep a slope
their toddler could climb up. Parents of boys got
it about right. But parents of girls underestimated
36%
36% 28% 36%
by up to nine degrees in slope.
‘Girls are seen as less physically able and
Agree Neither Agree Disagree
strong. But that’s often because mothers
discourage them from climbing high in the
Nor Disagree
playground, in case they fall and damage their Men are more likely to agree (37%) than disagree
looks,’ says Lise. (32%) while women show the reverse- 34% agree
‘Studies show that baby boys born with birth and 40% disagree.
Brainwashed Babies 9
But it’s not just parental expectations and peer ‘Thirty years ago, all little babies, boys and
pressure that subconsciously mould us to fit into girls, were dressed in white smocks that looked
age-old gender stereotypes. A new force has come like dresses. Now you find girl toddlers in pink
to the fore over the past 30 years, according to T-shirts with ‘Too Pretty to Do Maths’ on the
gender activist Emma Moore, it’s the power of front.’
advertising. ‘We are letting big companies limit the choices
‘Our motto is that there is more than one way of our little girls, because the pressure on them to
to be a girl,’ says Emma Moore. ‘But there are become pink princesses at three years old is huge,
huge corporate interests behind the avalanche of and if they don’t they are labelled ‘tomboys’, or
pink in our shops. worse.
‘Major companies, and the people who market ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ is where this path
and advertise for them, are dictating to us what leads. To a world of fantasy femininity where
a girl should be, how she should behave, and how having a boob job is seen as a perfectly legitimate
she should dress, and they are doing it for only way of becoming the princess who lands the
one reason: profit, profit, profit.’ prince.
‘They make billions a year by telling girls that ‘We don’t want to stop little girls having fun
their journey through life should be ‘Pink Disney and dressing up. But we do want them to grow up
Princess’, Hannah Montana or High School Musical. looking at the things they are being sold by big
‘The constant message is ‘Spend half your life companies and asking ‘What message am I being
in front of mirror making yourself look pretty, or given about myself here and who profits from it?’
you’ll never get a husband and you’ll be ruined’.’
“Major companies, and the people who
market and advertise for them, are dictat-
ing to us what a girl should be, how she
should behave, and how she should dress.”
—Gender activist
Emma MooreRole Reversal 10
Britain may be becoming more gender blind, bringing in the income, what are men going to
but the pressure is still on men to be the true contribute? Men are suffering from work overload
romantics. A third (34%) of people in the UK feel and a lack of work-family balance - that’s
men should do the chasing at the beginning of a becoming clearer and clearer in the statistics.’
relationship, compared to only a fifth (20%) who For many women, this has raised an
didn’t. uncomfortable truth: men feel undermined by a
Love and romance will be one of the major woman who is more professionally-successful than
fault lines that could tear apart a Gender them.
Neutral Britain. Author and psychologist Liza ‘A number of the women I interviewed for
Mundy describes how a ‘Reverse Gender Gap’ is my book were uncomfortable talking about their
emerging, changing dating and relationships for earnings to men and, in some cases, they would
men and women, as the power balance between lie, they would minimise what they did, a doctor
them shifts in a female direction. would encourage the idea that she was a nurse,
‘We could reach a day where the majority for example,’ says Liza.
of working wives in our country are out-earning
their husbands, and a day where more women are “When it comes to romance, men should pursue women and
supporting families than men,’ says Liza. not the other way around.”
‘It changes the nature of what Simone de
Beauvoir called ‘the deal’ in terms of marriage
and forming long-term relationships. Men brought 34% 46% 20%
income to the relationship and women offered Agree Neither Agree Disagree
sexual services, domestic skills, childbearing Nor Disagree
abilities or beauty.
But the huge change in female earning power and
and independence over the past 40 years has
blown the old deal apart. ‘If women are now the 34% OF WOMEN AGREE
ones bringing money to the deal, they expect
men to bring something else,’ says Liza. 34% OF MEN AGREE
‘We are in this really transitional period where
people are trying to figure out what the elements
of the deal should be.
‘We have a large and growing cohort of single
women who are becoming politically powerful
and, in many cases, these women are sceptical
that men are bringing anything to the deal any
more.
‘Now that women are the ones who are‘I think highly successful young women are
11
uncomfortable with the idea that men might be
attracted to their earnings. Men are a little bit
more accustomed to that and women are freaked
out by it.
‘Women are in this weird bind, they’re afraid Which of the following are men or women better at?
that some men are going to feel emasculated
and they’re afraid that some men are going to be Men Women They are
overly attracted to their earnings. the same
‘Some of the really high-achieving, successful
women I talked with for my book were very happy
to be their cheerleaders, their household support Providing financially for a family
system. They felt like they were able to have a
great job and children, because they had this
34%
support at home. 6%
‘Some men desire an extreme version of that
old-fashioned deal. They find women who are 60%
financially in need,’ says Liza.
‘Presumably these are women who are in
financial straits in undeveloped countries, and
Business
they’re willing to sign on for that old-fashioned 25%
deal; if you provide me with financial stability, I’ll
provide you with domestic services. 9%
‘Some of the mail-order bride websites say, 66%
‘are you tired of uppity, strong-willed, European
women? We’ll find you a traditional woman’. They
do play into this idea that they’ll find a woman Caring for family members
who is more pleasant and submissive.
‘High-achieving women are looking for 5%
progressive, Northern European men who will help
them out at home. The more high-earning the
50%
women are, the more likely they are to look for 45%
progressive-minded men.
‘I interviewed men who expected men to
bring physical attractiveness into the deal, women Listening
who were pretty picky about the way men looked,
so I guess that’s a manifestation of the changing
6%
expectation of what men should bring. 57%
‘In the future, the deal will have to be
constantly negotiated because nothing can be 37%
assumed anymore.’Gender Injustice 12
A longing for justice and fairness is driving the
35% of women feel they have been treated battle for a Gender-Blind Britain. Angry men and
women report blatant discrimination based on
unfairly because of their gender and a gender stereotyping.
significant 20% of men say the same. A third of women (35%) have been treated
unfairly because of their gender, but only a fifth
(20%) of men.
Top situations where people feel treated One in four (26%) of a group of men who had
unfairly because of gender suffered sex discrimination said it happened while
they were out shopping. Only 14% of women who
At work had faced gender-based unfairness had done so at
52%
the shops.
These experiences lead both sexes to believe
that Britain would be a fairer place to live and
work if their gender could be rendered invisible.
Two thirds (65%) of the UK population believe
Waiting to be served at the bar that job interviews would be fairer if the
gender of the interviewee was hidden from the
40% interviewer.
Almost half (44%) of the survey felt that
proceedings in court would be fairer if the gender
of an accused person was hidden from the jury.
Applying for a job But our experts worry that a Gender-Blind
Britain will have major, negative, unintended
28% consequences for men and women. Gareth Kloet,
head of car insurance at Confused.com, explains
how the EU’s ruling on gender-free insurance
premiums is already threatening to heap heavy
Out shopping injustice on women drivers in the UK.
‘Anecdotally, men are more aggressive in their
18% driving, drive powerful status cars, and, when
they crash, they tend to have more expensive
accidents.’
Therefore, women cost insurers less when
*Percentages reflect those who have felt they they have accidents, they have fewer accidents
were treated unfairly because of their gender in and, when they do have accidents, it costs less to
various situations. put that situation right. So their premiums havealways been lower.
13
However, the EU ruling means that the cost of
car insurance and life insurance for women in the the individual, not the group, will be rated and
short term will go up. The Treasury has said that the more information they are comfortable to
for young women car insurance could go up as share with the insurer, the more accurate their
much as 24%. pricing will be towards their own risk. I foresee
At the same time, the cost of car insurance a point in the not too distant future where life
and life insurance for men will come down, insurance companies could provide discounted
because the risk is being shared over a larger pool premiums through apps or devices which track an
of people which isn’t being divided by a gender individual’s activities as a gauge of their fitness
gap. and health.’
Gareth says: ‘In the short term, it looks like
men will win as a result of the gender legislation
and women will unfortunately lose.’
‘It’s an unjust situation that companies such
as Confused.com are trying to put right by
introducing state-of-the-art, in-car technology,
such as a telematics apps that judge drivers on
their individual skills and competence rather than
their gender.’
‘I would be pretty annoyed if I was female
and I was thinking ‘the cost of my car insurance is £ £££ 5 . 99
going up because all of those irresponsible males
and I’m going to have to pay the price for it’.
‘Men will see their car insurance reduced, PREMIUM PREMIUM
women will see it rise. That’s clearly not fair. INSURANCE INSURANCE
The only fair thing for insurers to be able to do is
to base your premium on knowledge, how many
miles are you genuinely driving, where are you
driving, when are you driving and what’s the
quality of your driving like. I think that would be “The EU ruling means that the cost of car
amazingly fair.’
Matt Lloyd, head of life insurance at insurance and life insurance for women in
Confused.com echoes Gareth’s thoughts: ‘Gender
is a stable and useful long term indicator of risk
the short term will go up. The Treasury has
which in life insurance terms cannot be replaced said that for young women car insurance
easily when the new law comes into effect on
21 December 2012. Women definitely have the could go up as much as 24%.”
most to lose through the changes relating to life
insurance. It is likely that life insurers will be —Head of car insurance at Confused.com
looking for a similar solution to telematics in that Gareth KloetSexual Confusion 14
Well over half of people in the UK (61%) think into play and so create different halves of one
a world that didn’t take any notice of people’s strong whole.
genders would be better than the one we live in ‘By saying that everyone should be the same,
now. Only 15% think it would be worse. we are saying it’s not okay to be very feminine or
And almost three-quarters of the population masculine in our behavior.’
are in favour of blurring the boundaries of sexual Gender-neutrality policies in her native
identity from birth. Sweden illustrate the dangers that may lie in wait
Three in four (73%) of the UK public believe for the UK:
children should be raised the same way, ‘Gender neutrality has been a disaster in
regardless of whether they are boys or girls. This Sweden,’ says Elise. ‘Women are suffering twice
belief is significantly stronger in women (77%), as many mental and emotional health problems
than it is in men (69%). as men because they are being told to deny their
But gender commentator, Elise Cleason, natures, to go out and get jobs just like men
fears that gender-neutral schools and homes when their children are very small and need their
will profoundly undermine our society in the mothers.’
workplace, in our child-rearing and in the ‘Gender neutrality has caused an epidemic of
bedroom. relationship breakdowns, because we are sexually
‘Gender-neutrality policies are a fight against attracted to the opposite and yet we have spent
human nature that damage children,’ says Elise years trying to make men and women the same.
Cleason. ‘Without a clear idea of their gender ‘I think men and women should have equal
roles, children are completely lost. rights, but we should not try to pretend that we
‘By attempting to pretend small boys and girls are the same. That can only lead to failure and
are the same at school, nursery or in the home, confusion. I hope we will come to our senses –
we confuse their sexual identities, and destroy before it is too late.’
3 4
their confidence and belief in who they are.
‘You send a very dangerous message to
IN
children, and especially to teenagers, when you
tell them: ‘You are not a boy or a girl – you are
something in between.’
Nature designed the two sexes to be different
for good reason, Elise believes. ‘There is
something good about being definitely a man or
woman. By saying otherwise, we are trying to of the UK public believe children should be raised the same
wipe out the best of what makes us human,’ s
he says. way, regardless of whether they are boys or girls. This belief is
‘Nature wants to distinguish sexes because significantly stronger in women (77%), than it is in men (69%).
they bring different strengths and weaknessesA Female Future 15
More than half (51%) of people in the UK think
that women and men are equally skilled at
driving, on the sports field (52%), and in the
kitchen (52%). Tellingly, two thirds (66%) are
business equals.
Tom Savigar of the Future Laboratory, predicts
that this ‘gender blending’ of long-established
stereotypes about male and female strengths
and weaknesses points to a future where
characteristics, once seen as purely feminine,
will empower both sexes. ‘The decisions that are needed to tackle
‘What has traditionally been seen as the the problems and challenges of the 21st century
female brain - the ability to be empathetic, to require a female way of thinking. This is lateral-
listen more, to think laterally, and take in more mindedness, imagination, creativity and empathy.
stimulus when making decisions – will clearly be ‘Men are realising that the way they’ve been
the most advantageous for the human race facing taught by their fathers and grandfathers just
an ever-more complex world over the next 150 doesn’t work in the 21st century. Having a stiff
years,’ he says. upper lip, being linear, hierarchical and dictatorial
Tom believes that, rather than becoming just does not work. Those skills are completely
gender neutral, Britain will need to create a redundant.
population that all think like women. ‘Equalising men and women within the context
‘Now men will have to be trained to have a of insurance is ridiculous. It doesn’t acknowledge
more ‘female’ mind. Gender neutrality in the next the fundamental differences between men and
20 years will be about men coming up to speed women; the fact that the insurance space is about
with women and adopting a lot more of their risk, and the fact women take fewer risks than
traits, which will make for a better world,’ he men. Something has to change.
says.
‘Simply ignoring gender differences will cause
a lot of problems. In the last 150 years it’s been “Gender neutrality in the next 20 years will
a male-dominated world, and, in the next 150
years, it will be a female-dominated world. be about men coming up to speed with
‘It’s not about saying ‘can we all just be the
same?’ it’s about ‘women are in power now’. That
women and adopting a lot more of their
needs to be acknowledged and promoted that traits, which will make for a better world.”
we’re moving into a female era and not a gender-
— Tom Savigar
neutral era. of the Future LaboratoryConclusion 16 As our research has shown, the future of insurance will involve rating the individual, not rating groups of people by whether they are male or female. The gender neutrality in insurance has been dictated by EU rules but also reflects some of the changes and trends that are happening in society: insurance is not the only area of life where gender neutrality is a growing trend. This does not have to mean emasculating men or ignoring the strengths and weaknesses of the genders, but giving each person equal opportunities to succeed regardless of which box they tick on a form, because that box is soon to be removed, and this in itself can be seen as a step closer to gender freedom. Please contact the PR team at Confused. com if you are a member of the media with questions about this report: prteam@confused.com 02920 434 275 www.confused.com www.confused.com/eu-gender-directive © Copyright 2008 - 2012 Confused.com. All rights reserved.
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