Is Indian Media Sexist?

From “ vicco turmeric, nahi cosmetic” to “Hawkins ka gajar ka halwa” these ads has been my childhood. I can just close my eyes and recall the slogans without even batting an eyelash. They were some pleasant days. But wait, as soon as I close my eyes those ads aren’t pleasant anymore. Why does the female counterpart have to worry about making the gajar ka halwa? And why is applying move on the kamar is the perfect solution for the ailment that has been caused by over-exhaustion. All this fuss is treated just so she can continue over exhausting herself and the cycle goes on and on.

A few weeks ago, social media was stormed by a mural picture discouraging female foeticide. While the intent was commendable, there was a serious problem with the slogan used. It goes like, “How will you eat Rotis prepared by them if you won’t let your daughters be born”. Subtly implying, daughters’ place essentially is in the kitchen. It is not just ads for daughters. The famous MTR advertisement shows a daughter in law cooking variety of dishes for members of her joint family. As soon as she starts cooking, her hands multiply, replicates Goddess Durga and finishes the cooking without any help in no time much to her husband’s surprise.

How appalling it is to say, women continue to be sexualized and misinterpreted in advertisements, even in 2019. Advertisers can’t look at a woman selling beyond stereotypes and sex – whether it’s a fairness cream ad or a clothing brand. A wedding jewellery brand still thinks ‘getting married’ is what every girl dreams of, and a beverage label can’t help but use a woman as a seductive image to sell its mango drink.

A woman since her childhood is programmed to look like a Barbie doll – an image of perfection, which the Indian ads too portray. In the ads we see, a female would have perfect skin and shining body with no wrinkles or scars. She has a head of silky, radiant hair that looks dazzling bright. Funny but real in the sense, advertisements do what they shouldn’t, through their ads. While on the other hand, men are wired to desire and see the woman as such without a hunch of unpleasant attitude. The Indian media have normalized such behaviour.

The deodorant ad, featuring Neil Nitin Mukesh, implies – to attract a woman, “just spray it on and turn her on”. The objectification of woman in this particular ad has disgusted me to the limit of abhorring self.

I remember coming across Nando’s advertisement back in 2016 on Twitter and it appalled me to a point where I had to log off the internet. It says and I quote, “We don’t mind if you touch our buns, or breasts or even our thighs. Whatever you are into, enjoying any Nando’s meal with your hands is always recommended”

AS WE COME ACROSS SO MANY ADS IN DAY TO DAY BASIS THAT POTRAY MISOGYNY AND SEXISM, WE ARE GENERALISING IT.

Even though an advertisement is not meant to be a moral guide, it does have certain responsibilities towards society merely because it reaches millions of homes and influences people, directly or indirectly. Indian media should hear the alarm and understand that incessant exposure to such messages does have an impact on the viewers and the society at large.

While reading more about this topic, I came across a research paper by NYU and it vividly talked about the underrepresentation of women in media.

“Of the many influences on how we view men and women, media are the most pervasive and one of the most powerful. Woven throughout our daily lives, media insinuate their messages into our consciousness at every turn. All forms of media communicate images of the sexes, many of which perpetuate unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions. Three themes describe how media represent gender. First, women are underrepresented which falsely implies that men are the cultural standard and women are unimportant or invisible. Second, men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views of gender. Third, depictions of relationships between men and women emphasize traditional roles and normalize violence against women."

It’s a question that advertisers need to question themselves. While old brands such as axe and wild stone have always raised controversy by their over the top offering it’s the cute ads that are slotting women in predefined roles that portray them as being dependent, weak and submissive.

Kellogg’s special ad for example has no problems with the idea that the husband seems to pay attention to his wife only after she has slimmed down by using the product.

In a situation like this advertisers can do their bit with some intelligent scripts that portray men and women in the same light. Ads like "move" could choose to show the men participating in the housework instead of just applying balms that enable the women to get back to work. Ads for health drink like boost and bournvita could choose to show a girl enjoying the tasty drink instead of the boy.

As a millennial and the way I see it, things are changing. The ads that I grew up watching would not set up the standard for the next generation of ad makers. Because I know that something, somewhere is going wrong. All along the way, I have to stand up to it.

At a time where Indian society is trying to do its best to empower women, advertisers should not be let off scathe free. It’s time to step up and do our bit or risk continuing to be a part of the male dominant society that continues to oppress women in India.

Once a wise teacher had said to me, Change comes from within. Start with small things, use she before he while using pronouns. Imbibe it in your consciousness. Maybe that’s a start. Earlier this year, I came across this detergent ad- It opens with an older gentleman sitting at a dinner table, observing his grown daughter performing a dizzying array of evening tasks while her husband sits watching television, calling out for his evening tea, oblivious to her multi-tasking a work call, preparing dinner, and supervising kids’ homework.

Her father’s off-screen voice reads a “Dear Daughter” letter in Hindi as he witnesses the gaping disparity of her duties during the unpaid portion of her workday. Stunned by the pressures his “baby girl” is facing, the lamenting dad acknowledges his direct responsibility for this state of affairs.

Admitting that he provided the example that she internalised, the dad resolves to change this once he’s back home with mom, confiding that he is “so very sorry” for not having provided a different role model.

Cut to the next scene and dad is loading the machine with his dirty laundry, much to mom’s surprise, and the viewer is left with Ariel’s parting slogan “Share the load” because “why should laundry be a mother’s job”?

And that made me wonder if that’s the start he has been talking about. We need to demold the thinking and establish a new thought where a woman is not a housewife or homemaker but an equal, where women don’t get attracted to men because of their perfume but their upbringing and vice versa, where you don’t need fairness cream to make you complete.