Abstract
According to South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications, the local advertising industry is slow to transform and is not yet reflective of South Africa’s diverse population. In an attempt to begin to envision solutions for a more transformed, diverse, and inclusive industry for black creative women in a future South Africa, this qualitative study engages with, and offers insights into, the lived experiences of six Johannesburg-based, black creative women who are currently employed in the advertising sector. The participants comprised a junior copywriter, a senior art director, two senior copywriters, a creative director, and a hybrid chief creative officer/ agency owner whose industry tenures range from three to fifteen years. Informants all participated in individual, one-hour-long recorded semi-structured interviews that probed various aspects of their lived, working experiences in advertising.
Data extracted from the interviews was utilised to answer the main research question, namely, how black creative women navigate their careers and negotiate their intersectional identities in an industry that has, historically, been dominated by white, middle-aged males. Participants’ responses were recorded, transcribed, and analysed by following Rose-Marié Bezuidenhout and Franci Cronje’s qualitative content analysis process as well as the interpretative framework of Patricia Collins’s Matrix of Domination that is underpinned by Kimberlè Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality.
Key findings revealed that, in the experience of the participants, black, creative women continue to feel undermined, and all six participants have considered leaving the industry. Reasons provided include the encountering of stereotypes; the phenomenon of ‘the boys club’; lack of black female mentorship; as well as unconventional working hours. In particular, the challenge of balancing the duties of motherhood and being umakoti (a traditional African wife) with the inflexible expectations of industry has had limiting effects on the career acceleration of some of the participants. Feedback suggests that the responsibility of transformation has shifted from those who are in positions of power, to being the duty of the marginalised, a situation that would need to change if solutions to the current situation are to be found.
KEYWORDS
Black Creative Women, Intersectionality, Transformation, South African Advertising Industry