Advertisements and Sexism
Shouldn’t the company’s tagline say “jo biwi se kare pyaar, woh equal responsibilities se kaise karein inkaar” instead of what it actually says? Isn’t their actual tagline subtly portraying that only the wives are to do the cooking? Why is cooking a gender biased work even in today’s world? We are in the twenty first century and why is that even now, women are ‘supposed’ to be the ones cooking?
Why do most of the advertisements we come across portray sexism?
Most products associated with kitchen and household maintenace usually show women in them. Pressure cookers, gas stoves, utensils, cooking oils, flours, instant mixes and a lot of other products. Why do most of these products advertise by featuring only women doing the household chores? The patriarchy is so deep rooted that most of us find it normal.
For instance, I recently came across an advertisement on pressure cookers in a magazine, and the woman in it was not even cooking, or was not even in an attire meant for cooking. That got me thinking, what was the whole purpose of even putting her picture there? Was she meant to be ‘eye candy’? I couldn’t come up with any other reasoning. There are so many advertisements where women are the ones cooking and taking care of all the chores in the kitchen. Cooking and getting all the chores done, by being a homemaker is definitely not insulting, it is totally a woman’s choice to make, but why don’t most advertisements include men actively participating in the household chores?
Even in advertisements for products like detergents, dish washing soaps, etc, it is women who are doing the act of cleaning and an expert (usually a man) comes in to verify the efficiency of the product.
In advertisements for baby products, it is women who bathe the baby, change their diapers, etc. I am not opposing any of it. My view is this : it is equally a man's responsibility to engage in such activities. Actually, despite gender, it is a person's responsibility to share the duties if they are capable of doing the work.
What is with occupation and gender in advertisements? Why is a doctor mostly a woman and a policeman always a man?!
Why is a woman's marriage always pointed out at? And how is it okay to advertise a slogan like 'Men will be Men' ?!
Advertisements happen to have an impact on the viewers’ mind, which is the whole purpose of them being made. So, companies should make an effort to create a positive impact on the society without sticking to age old stereotypes.
Casual and non-casual sexism is so deep rooted in advertisements, movies, and all around us that we don’t notice it all the time. It is very normalized and is expected of women to not be offended by the 'casual’ sexism present all around us.
There are some advertisements that are throwing some light on gender equality. Surf excel's 'Share the load', a commercial ad by HE deodrant, few Vicks vaporub commercials, etc are breaking the stereotype and we need more of these!
Co- written By SandhyaUB
