Introduction to the Handbook of Research on Gender and Marketing

Abstract

History will point to 2018 as the tipping point for all things gender. The evidence is everywhere, from more women running for political office to girls being saved from sex trafficking rings. The focus on gender surpasses typical academic discussions about political, social, and cultural effects. Gender has gone “mainstream” in 2018. This handbook could not come at a better time. What brought about this gigantic shift in consciousness related to gender? Historians will point to the #MeToo movement, the exposure of sexual harassment, violence, and abuse cases happening at the highest echelons of government, corporate, and social organizations, the incremental movements made in micro-level organizations, such as families, to whittle away at stereotypes that inhibited girls and boys from branching out beyond accepted norms, as just a few of the tremors that precluded this tectonic shift. For those of us who have dedicated our personal and professional lives to advocating for change, the questions are not how and why but what now? But for those who have not considered the extremely complex nature of gender, permit me to provide an illustrative metaphor. Describing the concept of gender is akin to describing a color. I’ll use blue as it is my favorite and also, interestingly, has a “history.” There are many ways to describe the color blue: spectrum, variation, dark to light, hue, cadence, clarity, sharpness, depth, boldness, etc. Given this vast lexicon, it is clear that there is no universal definition of blue. Blue is in the eye of the beholder; blue represents different things to different people. Blue as a color has an interesting history. It was one of the most recent color words added to the English language and was legitimized as a symbol by the Catholic Church when they officially assigned it to represent Saint Mary. In France and the USA, for example, the color blue represents patriotism. In other cultures, blue represents nature. Blue has been used to describe objects and feelings like “blue moon” or “dress blues” or “feeling blue.” Advertisers are aware that blue signals strength to consumers. And parents in many countries use the color blue to reveal