In a highly commercialised world replete with multiple forms of transactions at various levels, advertisements are something one cannot ignore. From billboards and metro stations to Netflix and comic books, advertisements are everywhere, constantly capturing our unconscious state of being.
And as we all know, most of them are outrightly sexist, depicting women either as cooking experts, objects of pleasure or as ever-excited cleaning experts. The trend continues even till this date when we authoritatively claim of being modernised and sensitive towards gender-based issues in international forums and general discussions.
At an individual level, I could not have pushed for a change in policy. So, what I decided to do was point out the specificity highlighting the problems in gender representation. Taking a step by step approach, I started writing extensively on how women were/are represented in advertisements in our country. For me, writing was the best way to point this problem out not just because of its wider reach but also because it helps me structure my own arguments and understand the issue in depth due to the background research the process entails.
A few months back, I wrote a piece on the basis of a small observation while randomly surfing through different channels on TV. It was about the recurrence of mothers or women in the advertisements on cleaning merchandises. I went through all the advertisements on detergents, toilet cleaners and dishwashing liquids only to find that all of them had only women excitingly doing the job. It was interesting not to see men in those advertisements when cleaning is essential for everyone regardless of one’s gender. Collating the advertisement snippets, I pointed out the common linkages in those ads in terms of the content, narrative and the overall idea. While some came in support of my arguments, it was disturbing to find hordes of derogatory remarks on the post when it got published.
From being called a ‘pseudo-feminist’ and an ‘attention seeker’ to a ‘jobless being’, I was called out many names just because I had highlighted a problem that required everyone’s attention. It was really disappointing to find people saying things like ‘women are supposed to do this job’ or ‘a man struggles all day in office’. ‘How can you ask him to do daily chores like cleaning?’
For once, I was petrified and wanted to delete the post because the conversation was going in a wrong direction. However, I decided against it when I found people coming out in support and logically justifying my standpoint. There were some who went an extra mile by responding to almost all the visceral comments that I received on that post in a polite and logical manner. Overwhelmed by the support I got, I decided not to give up on writing on what I thought was problematic. This incident taught me about the idea of solidarity and how not to get discouraged by a bunch of comments that primarily emanates from half-knowledge and baseless assumptions. The comments also suggested that there were certain things which had to be explained in detail to make things easier for them and hence I continued writing on the issue of advertisements only.
Embarking forth on my journey, I wrote another piece, now focussing on how ad campaigns can also be used as an effective tool to pose the right questions and reflect the problems in society. I wrote a listicle on both progressive and regressive advertisements (not restricting myself to only cleaning merchandises) to show the scale of impact that positive and non-stereotypical advertisements can have on society.
Taking examples from the #share_ the_ load (Ariel) and #Mom_ by_ choice (Titan watch), I wrote how these campaigns initiated positive conversations in social media platforms, encouraging people to share their ideas of breaking the conventional roles of gender. Although some people continued spewing venom on the post when it got published, this time I did not get influenced by their harsh comments because that would have meant a victory of a patriarchal collective voice over an alternative narrative that blatantly spoke against it. Had I not continued writing, it would have just legitimised the majoritarian beliefs and my questions would have just died down somewhere. Thus, I continued with my research on the issue of gender representation in advertisements.
While I was busy dissecting each layer of prejudiced advertisements all around the world, I came across Meghan Markle’s video on how she raised her voice against the advertisers for using a sexist tagline and how she came out victorious by compelling the advertisers to change their tagline by not giving up on what she felt was her right as an 11-year-old girl. Taking inspiration from there, I continued discussing, writing and talking about this problem with people around me.
Although it took me really long to write about stories that mattered to me, now when I have mustered the courage to do it, I don’t want to stop here. With more of such stories, I want to see women being shown as neutral characters in not just advertisements but in every media sphere. This can only happen when more people start raising their voice against this issue. The trolls and all those who try to hamper right arguments can only be throttled when more of us start writing about what we feel is right without being influenced by the bad comments.
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