written By: Poorvi Shriyan
edited By: Darshna Gupta
According to a study by UNICEF and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI) titled “Gender Bias and Inclusion In Advertising In India”, the gender portrayal is problematic as they encourage gender stereotypes.
Video link for the Imperial Blue ad :
Sexist advertisements have primarily seeped stereotyping into our daily lives. And this is definitely not a new concept. Harmful stereotypes in advertising have remained unchallenged for years. One of the earliest Bournvita ads relates a wife’s happiness to her husband’s. With a tagline, ‘Pati ki khushi aapki khushi hai.’ For decades such advertisements have systematically taught gender roles and implanted sexism within us.
A 2-liner ghazal and tagline ‘Men Will Be Men’, has been loved by everyone over the years. The classic Seagram’s Imperial Blue advertisements excuses problematic behaviour with one simple explanation- Men Will Be Men. They use this statement as a justification for glorifying sexist behaviour. These ads have portrayed women as objects of desire and dehumanized men to an extent that they made it acceptable for men to be greedy, possessive, full of lust and materialistic. They stereotype men, portraying them as people who don’t bat an eyelid while objectifying women.
Men are shown to modify behaviour, fake emotions just get a woman’s attention. The narrative usually idolizes men who engage in infidelity, prioritise their needs over anyone else’s, and think about materialistic possessions. All these traits are overlooked as it is presented in a humorous manner. These similar traits carried out by men in real life are brushed off by using the same tagline men will be men. We have politicians using the same line to justify heinous crimes at public platforms.
Advertisements are made with an idea to help consumers choose and decide what products and services to buy. They were not meant to provide moral science lectures but they clearly shouldn’t even promote gender biases, sexism and toxic misogynist traits. In a patriarchal world such advertisements serve as a constant reminder of the male privilege. In the advertising world, women are looked as nothing but a sex object where as men are glorified for their misogyny, rugged and unapologetic behaviour. Men are shown the way they are and women have to accept them. This reminds the audience that men are destined to do things just by the virtue of being born a man. Nobody talks about correcting these behaviours, nobody talks about how misleading they are and, nobody definitely tries to change the narrative. We have decades and decades of sexist ads systematically introducing gender biases and sexism to a new generation every year in the name of humour and advertising. Even though efforts are being taken to change the narratives, we still have a long way to go.
The Silent Sexism Project 