2025/04/08
Have you ever noticed how often women hear things like, “That’s not for you,” “Your priority is home,” or “Smile, it looks better”? We decided to draw attention to these biases and launched the awareness campaign “Drop the Stereotypes.” Together with the team at Palay Production, we created a thought-provoking story and shared it — from the streets of Kharkiv to TikTok and Instagram.
One of the key stages of our campaign was conducting the research “Gender Stereotypes and Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace.”
You can view the research results here.
We took it further and identified the main stereotypes that women face. These became the foundation of our campaign.
We reached out to Palay Production to create a video that would resonate with every woman. At the center of it is a 35-year-old woman who could easily be one of us: an editor-in-chief, a mother of a three-year-old boy, a fan of jeans, sneakers, and morning coffee.
She tries to climb the "ladder of success" but is weighed down by a suit made of pots, pacifiers, and makeup — symbols of the stereotypes that hold her back.
As she climbs up, a satirical nursery rhyme sounds: the text mentions dismissive attitudes, the “female role of being a mother,” and the yoke of “collective beauty.”
By the end, she’s nearly out of strength—but then a helping hand reaches for hers. A woman’s hand. It symbolizes that we can change the game together: she sheds the burden of stereotypes and keeps moving forward.
To effectively convey the campaign’s message, we collaborated with the talented professionals at Palay Production, who helped us visualize the struggle against gender stereotypes. Together, we developed scenarios that showcase women fighting professional barriers, illustrated through creative imagery.
On TikTok and Instagram, our video reached over 500,000 views—mostly from women who deeply resonated with the message. Some wrote that it was the first time they had truly thought about stereotypes. Others thanked us for the support. Many shared their own stories.
We also placed 60 posters inspired by the “Drop the Stereotypes” campaign throughout Kharkiv. They could be seen at bus stops, on street walls, in friendly public spaces, and community centers.
Additionally, the poster exhibition was displayed at PrideHub.
We wanted you to feel that you can be yourself, not what society wants you to be. If you feel that something in your life is “not okay,” we are here to support you. And we urge women to be there for each other.
Throw off stereotypes and follow your dreams because you can be anything you want to be - an editor-in-chief, a photographer, a designer, or just happy with yourself.
Stereotypes won't push us if we push them. Let's be there to support each other!
This project is produced by Women`s Association Sphere, funded by The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) with technical support of UN Women Ukraine. The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) mobilizes critical support for local and grassroots civil society organizations working on women, peace and security and humanitarian action. WPHF is a flexible and rapid financing mechanism supporting quality interventions designed to enhance the capacity of women to prevent conflict, respond to crises and emergencies, and seize key peacebuilding opportunities.
The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the organizations supporting the campaign.
