A Look At Indian Ads With A Gender Lens

In an attempt to look at Indian ads across various brand categories with a gender lens based on societal and sociological perspectives, The Beauty Paradigm: Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising deconstructs the Indian woman that the advertising industry depicts across the spectrum. An excerpt:

The feminist thought in the 1960s in retrospect, drew attention to the representation of women in media and called for a systematic investigation into the area of female role stereotypes in popular media. Particularly, it was suggested that advertising in popular media was a primary means for introducing and promoting female role stereotypes and sexism, calling attention to a systematic investigation into this area. Scholars believe that whereas the 1960s and 1970s largely experienced the development of the feminist perspective, the 1980s and 1990s coincided with the emergence of a viewpoint that gradually weakened the arguments of feminist thought. During the 1990s, issues of sexuality rather than gender became the focus of discourse and debate. During this period, sexual imagery of women was viewed as radical and cutting-edge rather than unfair and exploitative.

The research in different countries and at various points of time is reflective of the exclusive and gender insensitive nature of societies. Critics believe that it is inevitable because, in general, social thoughts like philosophy, history, science, even theory are also gender insensitive, which has a concomitant impact on the policies as well as on governance and justice. Media, a part of the social milieu too remains largely gender insensitive in its approach and narrative. Advertising, as a marketing tool, draws its references from various persuasive theories that look for appeals and symbols that largely cater to men and male gaze.

Advertising is criticised for voyeurism, misogyny, objectification of women’s body and for following a patriarchal approach in its discourse.

Objectification, sexualization, patriarchy loom large in advertising across societies. The citation of two ads that appeared within a time gap of 50 years would prove the point that not much has changed in the ad discourse, despite so much hue and cry on gender equity and sensitivity. A dramatic ad in 1972 from Geritol, a vitamin supplement brand had a middle-aged, good looking man showering praises on his wife, who with a huge grin was shown leaning on his shoulder. He praised her on how she looked after the household, took care of their child with perfection, cooked excellent dinner among other chores. All this he ascribed to the energy that she had, taking the supplement. “And look at her,” he stressed, “She looks better than any of her friends.” Looking back at the camera, he closes, “My wife, I think I’ll keep her.” The ad drew huge criticism from various sections of society. The National Organization for Women wanted nothing short of pulling off the ad from airways. To underscore the argument that things have not much changed, recently an ad by KFC that sexualized the narrative, attracted so much backlash on the social media that the fast food giant had to withdraw the ad. In the ad, a young lady in a low-cut blouse was shown compressing her lips and pushing her upper torso as she checked her image in a car window. While she did it, the car glasses rolled down reflecting two young boys ogling at her much to the discomfiture of their mother. The young lady grinned, asking “Did someone say KFC?’ Interestingly in India, the TVS Scooty ad has the same storyline and sequence as in the KFC ad discussed above. The only difference is that in the car, it is a man ogling at the protagonist, while his hapless wife looks on. The ad went on famously running the whole campaign, without much criticism.

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Advertising seen as a glam profession generally attracts young, urban, educated men and women who are expected to be aware of the issues and controversies surrounding advertisements, why then they go on creating stereotypes and objectify women in ads after ads? The answer is not far to seek. Creative writers and visualizers are born and live in the same milieu as the rest of the people. They absorb, assimilate, and practice within the same social environment, hence what they write and project cannot be different from what their understanding of the subject is. Women continue to be judged and portrayed, as they are perceived and treated in real life. And importantly, it is not just men who are behind such portrayals, in the creative teams, there are as many, if not more, women also. So, it can be posited that it is not being a man or a woman but the mindset that an average creative person in a patriarchal milieu would have. Things are changing, albeit slowly and there are many examples to cite. For instance in a recent ad of Parle 20:20 biscuit brand, in which a young girl and her parents are shown shopping at an apparel store. The girl tries a short dress and asks her mother how it looked. While the mother nods approvingly, the young father sitting at a distance says, ‘Kuchch jyada hi chotti nahin hian' (Isn’t it far too short?), to which his wife quips, ‘Chhoti dress nahin, chotti soch hoti hai’ (it is not the dress, it is the thinking that is small!), or the Hero Honda ad, “Why should boys have all the fun,” with cine star Priyanka Chopra as its protagonist. In one of the ads in the series, the protagonist questions the different sets of rules for her and her brother. While she takes her own call, the mother follows the patriarchal narrative.

An excerpt from The Beauty Paradigm: Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising by Jaishri Jethwaney. Published by SAGE Publications India. 2021, 272 pages, Paperback, Rs. 550 (ISBN: 978-93-5479-165-9), SAGE Response.

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