The Reality Blog

The World's Greatest Communicators at WORK. Nothing to hear here, move along..

I have been catching some commercials on the odd occasion and noticed that once again the State and Federal governments ignored the fact that women are in actual fact worse gamblers then men. About 37% to 55% after checking their own stats. on their site. The other thing that pissed me off previously was the fact that on two previous occasions, one ad for the Police Department about speeding and one from the State Fire Brigade on house fires, both the culprits were males and both ignored or never bothered to mention or show any females at all..

So the third time made me see red. I whipped off an email to the head of the recalcitrant government department. Staying calm, straight to the point and backing up my complaint with facts. This is not something they can ignore as all emails have to be answered or responded to. They are gold in their opinion and heads will roll if ignored..
The response states my observation and after quite a few earlier attempts at raising the other and similar issues previously, we appear to be having some positive results. It is only a matter of calmly and accurately pointing out the obvious sexism and if we all do so, things will change.
There are quite a few men and women onside in government departments, who are waiting to hear from anyone to make a complaint so they can use it as ammunition to fight against the obvious slut-feminist intrusion, influence and their efforts at ensuring only men are seen as culprits and the sun only dawns on the privileged sex.This is the most effective way of changing anything in any department of government. A concentrated and effective mailing campaign will do this every time..Time to get moving..

The response does ofcourse include their tunneled visioned justification and confession. It is part of the game..

    From:     *******, ***** MM <****.****l@dhhs.***.gov.au>
    Subject:     FW: Gambling Online Request (12/1901)
    Date:     5 April 2012 3:01:18 PM AEST
    To:     Christian J.     From:    ******, ***** MM

Dear Christian

Thank you for your comments. It is very useful for us to get feedback from the community in response to the resources and advertising we produce and disseminate.

The recent ****** Government television advertisements concerning gambling issues have depicted only males.  These advertisements have been carefully designed to reach identified target groups of the population who are at risk of, or experiencing gambling problems. With some forms of gambling and within some age groups, young men feature more significantly in the gambling research, thus the selection of gender representation in these ads.   We also aim to address the lower rate of male presentations to Gamblers Help services. Young men often are reluctant or find it difficult to seek help for health and other problems, and thus extra emphasis to a male audience in advertising the help options is appropriate.

It is also true that women are at-risk of gambling related harm, so your points in relation to the current advertising are valid.  This month we are launching a new ad in the Know Your Odds campaign, featuring a set of 6 characters demonstrating false beliefs that can contribute to gambling in excess. The actors have been selected to represent gender and ethnic diversity, There is an even balance between male and females.

We are also soon to commence a poster campaign in gaming venues as part of the new ******* Gaming Commission Responsible Gambling Mandatory Code of Practice. This set of posters include depictions of both men and women having difficulties with gambling.

It is not clear which school literature you are referring to. You may have seen What’s the Real Deal? www.dhhs.***.gov.au/realdeal, a teacher resource kit. This does not apparently contain gender bias.  Alternately you may be referring to the Against the Odds project undertaken by young people in the ********* area auspiced by Anglicare.  If so, you would be best to raise the issue with them.

During the last few years we have produced and distributed resources throughout the community which present both women and men in difficulties associated with excessive gambling. Examples are the comic “Long Odds” and the book of writings from people with gambling problems, “Women Sucked into Pokie”.

I hope this addresses your concerns.  Once again, thank you for your feedback. It assists us to tailor our projects to meet community expectations.

Kind regards

 **********
Manager, Community Services
Disability and Community Services
Department of Health and Human Services

As you can see the bias is deliberately there as more advertising is aimed specifically at men and ignores women altogether. That is about to change on this single occasion by pointing out their obvious sexism. Anglicare is next..