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The media speaks to men and women differently about money. At Starling, we’re campaigning to #MAKEMONEYEQUAL.

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A booklet about Making Money Equal

We’ve paired up with writer and comedian Anne T. Donahue to create a booklet that highlights the gender gap in the way men and women are spoken to about money.

With some wonderful illustrations from Erin Aniker, sit down and enjoy the Make Money Equal booklet.

The cover of the Make Money Equal booklet

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Our Manifesto to Make Money Equal

Financial inequality doesn’t end at the wage gap.

It’s also present in the way the media speaks to men and women about money.

Legislation is important – but so is language. The media talks to women as if they are splurgers and men as if they’re financiers.

Men are taught the benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Women are told to give up coffee so they can buy a pair of Louboutins.

We’re being separated into spenders and earners. The frivolous and the empowered.

Something has to change.

quotes

Money is an issue for a lot of people – but women encounter far more systemic obstacles when it comes to their finances. Gender inequality reaches far beyond low salaries and boardroom tokenism; it starts with the way we’re taught. It starts with the way we’re spoken to.”
Anne Boden@AnneBoden
CEO & Founder

The Stats

To see if we were onto something, in 2018 we commissioned a linguistics study from semiotics and cultural value agency The Answer, which assessed 300 articles from a mix of outlets aimed at men and women. Using discourse analysis, they found that:

65% of articles define women as excessive spenders
65% of articles define women as excessive spenders, advising them to limit shopping ‘splurges’, save small sums or depend on financial support.
90% of female-targeted articles focus on small ways to save money
90% of female-targeted articles focus on small ways to save money, like hobbies, cutting back on outgoings or seeking out vouchers and bargains.
71% of money articles in women’s magazines encourage women to seek out bargains
71% of money articles in women’s magazines encourage women to seek out vouchers, discounts, bargains and coupons to save money.
70% of articles aimed at men emphasise that making money is a masculine ideal,
70% of articles aimed at men emphasise that making money is a masculine ideal, and that monetary success and financial literacy are essential to enhancing personal status.
50% of the articles aimed at men also use fear propositions to trigger actions like investing or saving
50% of the articles aimed at men also use fear propositions to trigger actions like investing or saving, relying on masculine stereotypes and codes of combat, strength, power and competition.
60% of financial articles in male magazines tend to speak to men as if they’re savvy financiers
60% of financial articles in male magazines tend to speak to men as if they’re savvy financiers, offering advice on the best tech to use to enhance their investments.

Let’s talk about money in the same way to everyone.

make money equal

A graphic displaying our need to change the language we use around money

Money is genderless

We’re calling upon every business owner, every news editor, every podcast presenter and every headline writer and copy checker:

Let’s talk about money in the same way to everyone.

We need parity. We need equality. We need to #MAKEMONEYEQUAL.

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