TaskHer and Mother Berlin have seized the moment to tackle the construction industry’s taboo – gender-based discrimination, with their campaign, Trade Places.
The construction industry has an issue with women. The average hourly rate for self-employed men is 43% higher than women – meaning women have to work five more months each year to achieve parity. 39% of tradeswomen aren’t taken seriously because of their gender, and almost one in 10 (9%) had customers who will not let them work on a job when they find out they’re a woman. This is further amplified when considering the LGBTQIA+ community, with 60% of LGBTQIA+ employees experiencing homophobic and derogatory terms at work.
Trade Places stars LGBTQIA+ decorating collective, Corky’s Painters, who share their experiences of being tradeswomen in a male-dominated industry – all while being transformed into male counterparts via drag, which is already rooted in challenging and subverting society’s oppressive gender norms, making it the ideal artistic medium to shed light on the construction trade’s gender injustice. One of Corky’s Painters is a decorator by day and a drag king by night, so the campaign was a nod to their authentic experience in the drag community.
Anna Moynihan, co-founder, from TaskHer, commented, “We all have unconscious bias. Assuming everyone working in the trades are all men is such a hugely common one – even to people who are free thinkers in other areas. Our mission at TaskHer is to diversify the trades – because diversity improves everything, for everyone.
“This project speaks directly to our north star. Having Mother create content that shines a light on an industry that needs an update when it comes to equality felt like a great collaboration. The trades are an exciting, lucrative and flexible arena to work in, and there’s space for more people to benefit from that.”
The campaign responds to the demand for nearly a million new tradespeople over the next decade. It has never been more important to raise awareness of the growing gender pay gap and help change it for the women considering joining the industry.
Creative Team, Saph and Gabs, Mother Berlin, stated, “This idea came out of a conversation with the Corky’s Painters team.
I
f you’re not male, in a male-dominated industry, barriers are literally everywhere. So we wanted to create something memorable that would help raise the profile of tradeswomen and help get them hired. Thankfully, the brilliant team at TaskHer shares our ambition to make positive change.”
The Trade Places campaign covers online and social media.
Amelie Schad, managing director at Mother Berlin, commented, “When Saph and Gabs shared their idea, we knew we had to make it happen. We’re firm believers in the power of creativity to address injustices wherever they may be.”
