Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations
Gender statistics play an important role in highlighting gender inequalities, but they are often presented in a conventional way by depicting males in blue and females in pink. Using stereotypical colours saves users from having to learn which colour is used for which gender. However, colours can al...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2025-05-01
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| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251336950 |
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| _version_ | 1850151534286864384 |
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| author | Mojca Bavdaž Jerneja Kos Tamara Trošt Denis Marinšek |
| author_facet | Mojca Bavdaž Jerneja Kos Tamara Trošt Denis Marinšek |
| author_sort | Mojca Bavdaž |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gender statistics play an important role in highlighting gender inequalities, but they are often presented in a conventional way by depicting males in blue and females in pink. Using stereotypical colours saves users from having to learn which colour is used for which gender. However, colours can also convey unintended messages of strength vs. weakness, status, and power, confirming the very stereotypes they are intended to address. National statistical institutes have the opportunity to influence public perceptions and could play a leading role in raising awareness about gender issues. In our article, we examine the use of colours to represent gender in the Twitter accounts (rebranded to X accounts on July 23, 2023) of national statistical institutes in 24 European countries. Quantitative analysis of 631 colour pairs from 644 images reveals that the stereotypical use of colours in official statistics is still widespread. We examine the nine patterns discovered and comment on possible solutions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-279b417f97dc4d1ba0cedc9dd2193d11 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-279b417f97dc4d1ba0cedc9dd2193d112025-08-20T02:26:13ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-05-011510.1177/21582440251336950Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics VisualisationsMojca Bavdaž0Jerneja Kos1Tamara Trošt2Denis Marinšek3University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, SloveniaUniversity of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, SloveniaUniversity of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, SloveniaUniversity of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, SloveniaGender statistics play an important role in highlighting gender inequalities, but they are often presented in a conventional way by depicting males in blue and females in pink. Using stereotypical colours saves users from having to learn which colour is used for which gender. However, colours can also convey unintended messages of strength vs. weakness, status, and power, confirming the very stereotypes they are intended to address. National statistical institutes have the opportunity to influence public perceptions and could play a leading role in raising awareness about gender issues. In our article, we examine the use of colours to represent gender in the Twitter accounts (rebranded to X accounts on July 23, 2023) of national statistical institutes in 24 European countries. Quantitative analysis of 631 colour pairs from 644 images reveals that the stereotypical use of colours in official statistics is still widespread. We examine the nine patterns discovered and comment on possible solutions.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251336950 |
| spellingShingle | Mojca Bavdaž Jerneja Kos Tamara Trošt Denis Marinšek Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations SAGE Open |
| title | Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations |
| title_full | Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations |
| title_fullStr | Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations |
| title_short | Stereotypical Colours in European Gender Statistics Visualisations |
| title_sort | stereotypical colours in european gender statistics visualisations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251336950 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mojcabavdaz stereotypicalcoloursineuropeangenderstatisticsvisualisations AT jernejakos stereotypicalcoloursineuropeangenderstatisticsvisualisations AT tamaratrost stereotypicalcoloursineuropeangenderstatisticsvisualisations AT denismarinsek stereotypicalcoloursineuropeangenderstatisticsvisualisations |