1|Page

“They are better educated, earning more money than

ever, and make the bulk of buying decisions. Yet when it
comes to wooing women, advertisers could use a lesson
in the art of courtship.”

We already understand that women are different from men. Now we need to
understand that women are different from one another. They want to be catered to
as individuals.

Advertisers have failed to keep up with the rapid changes in female lifestyles during the past
five years. Five key changes in women's lifestyles that marketers should take into account.

First, women are increasingly adopting male behaviour, for example in their approach to
alcohol.

Second, they are doing better than men in education, but not in the workplace - while they
make up half of the workforce, there is still a massive pay imbalance.

Third, while women are getting older, they are acting younger. For example, a 45-year-old
might wear the same clothes as her teenage daughter - without looking ridiculous or in any
way unusual.

Fourth, women are having children much later and are less likely to stay at home with them.

And finally, women are increasingly important when it comes to making purchasing
decisions. But advertisers are still afraid to address them.

"Advertisers are lazy in their approach to consumers.

They're stuck in a 1990s time warp where they think if
they add a bit of emotion, they've done their job.
Consumers have changed rapidly over the last five
years,"
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People act according to these stereotypes because

stereotypes are considered socially
acceptable. For example, when people think of an
advertisement for a household cleaner, what comes to mind,
most likely, is a woman. It is also likely that the picture in
people’s minds corresponds closely to what researchers
have called the” happy housewife”stereotype. This is a
stereotype that has been associated with the image of
women in most print and television advertisements.

The ad for a certain shampoo on the television portraying two of the most sensuous and
physically attractive star models, (who are also an off-screen pair in real life) is an indicator
of how sex roles have changed in Indian advertising. Cinematographed in monochrome with
the right shades of darkness and mood lighting, the word 'hot' recurs like a double-edged
metaphor in the ad, an adjective that has no direct relationship with the product being
advertised. Why?

This, and other contemporary ads raise pertinent questions about perspectives on gender in
media representations of men and women. The Bipasha Basu-John Abraham ad mentioned
above for instance, underscores how men in Indian ads are being presented in a much more
macho-dominant manner than they were before. Another ad for male underwear shows a
number of females with pseudo-coy expressions on their faces coming out of a toilet. The
camera cuts to a shot inside the toilet where a handsome male model lies prostrate with
telltale lipstick marks across his body. Again, the product advertised does not really bear a
direct relationship with the message or the script since few Indian males would be caught
dead before females catch them in their underwear inside what appears to be a public toilet!
These are Western concepts imposed on Indian ad scripts and prove that visuals need not
necessarily represent the social norms of a society.
3|Page

On the other hand, while sports and athletics sported more men than women in the past in
India and in the West, today however, real achievers like Sania Mirza have changed all that.
Also, you may see a cricketer like Mahendra Dhoni as often as you see Mirza, never mind
the product they are posing for. Women in Indian ads are being presented in less dependent
roles than they were before. An ad for a leading women's fortnightly recently carried a
delightful image of an ageing woman in bridal attire. It later transpires that her daughter is
getting her married again! This is an example of positive advertising that subtly carries a
social message.

Many mother-daughter ads in recent times bear out female bonding, in effect, subtly
marginalising the role of men by cutting them out completely from such ads. Yet, women do
not appear in ads for 'solid' products such as steel and cement and even if they do, they are
sidetracked within the script.n ads are being presented in a much more macho-dominant
manner than they were before. Another ad for male underwear shows a number of females
with pseudo-coy expressions on their faces coming out of a toilet. The camera cuts to a shot
inside the toilet where a handsome male model lies prostrate with telltale lipstick marks
across his body. Again, the product advertised does not really bear a direct relationship with
the message or the script since few Indian males would be caught dead before females
catch them in their underwear inside what appears to be a public toilet! These are Western
concepts imposed on Indian ad scripts and prove that visuals need not necessarily represent
the social norms of a society.

On the other hand, while sports and athletics sported more men than women in the past in
India and in the West, today however, real achievers like Sania Mirza have changed all that.
Also, you may see a cricketer like Mahendra Dhoni as often as you see Mirza, never mind
the product they are posing for. Women in Indian ads are being presented in less dependent
roles than they were before. An ad for a leading women's fortnightly recently carried a
delightful image of an ageing woman in bridal attire. It later transpires that her daughter is
getting her married again! This is an example of positive advertising that subtly carries a
social message.

Many mother-daughter ads in recent times bear out female bonding, in effect, subtly
marginalising the role of men by cutting them out completely from such ads. Yet, women do
not appear in ads for 'solid' products such as steel and cement and even if they do, they are
sidetracked within the script.

Have male and female roles in Indian ads changed over the past decade? Are men more
frequently visible in Indian ads than they were, say, ten years ago? Have the images of men
and women in ads softened over time, blurring the stereotypes, or have they hardened?
How do these images compare with international trends? Is media literacy, especially for
women and girls, a necessity? This area is marked by a paucity of research, but a study
authored by Mallika Das published in the November 2000 issue of Sex Roles: A Journal of
Research, revealed interesting findings.

The Sex Roles study drew similarities and differences in the way women and men are
portrayed in Indian magazine ads and the way they are portrayed in other countries. The
similarities, according to the study, largely borne out by fact seem to be that

(1) overall, men and women in Indian ads are also portrayed in stereotypical ways;

(2) the stereotypes in India also seem to be changing and softening, albeit slowly;
4|Page

(3) as in the case of western ads, women and men appear for different types of products in
Indian ads;

and

(4) role portrayals seem to be affected by the nature of the product in the case of women,
as in other nations.

In the case of male role portrayals, the following major differences were found:

1. The study quoted an earlier 1997 US study (Kolbe and Albanese) which found that men
were often portrayed in athletic roles. By comparison, the study recorded that only 11.4 per
cent of Indian ads showed men in such roles. This percentage was less than 9.5 per cent in
previous years.

2. Although men in Indian ads appeared more often in traditional ways, the study also
recorded that men were not portrayed in very negative ways. This seems contradictory to
findings from other nations, where male portrayals have changed to a lesser extent than
female role portrayals over the past few decades.

In addition, my own observation is that there is an increased appearance of men in Indian

ads. This may be attributable to a number of factors. First, India is one of the fastest
growing markets for consumer durables and several "male-oriented" products such as
insurance, medical, industrial, and technology-related products. Because men are more
often considered to be the primary decision makers for such products, the increase is
understandable. Second, the number of ads in business and general interest magazines in
India has increased tremendously while the number in women's magazines has not. Both of
these factors could have led to an increase in the number of men appearing in Indian ads.

Three, the increased visibility may also be attributed to stars, sportsmen and celebrities
from different fields stepping into the modelling world. No one would have dreamt of
Amitabh Bachchan modelling for any product when he was at the peak of his career as hero.
Today, he is modelling for nearly 70 products across the board. Female stars were popular
as models earlier, and this has changed. Today, male stars from Shahrukh Khan to Amir
Khan to Akshay and Aftab, and even smaller names like Irfan Khan, Zayed Khan and
Emraan Hashmi are into modelling. Those who were already models but are now celebrated
stars such as John Abraham, are chased by agencies to function as brand ambassadors.

Two major differences in female role portrayals were

noted:
1. Some of the common stereotypical portrayals seem less prevalent in Indian ads. For
example, unlike in British magazine ads, women in Indian magazine ads were more likely to
be portrayed in "neutral/other" ways and less likely to be portrayed as sex objects. Women
modelling for mobile phones, cars and two-wheelers, painkillers, and as protagonists carry
neutral portrayals. Women were also less likely to be portrayed in "dependency" roles in
Indian ads than in British ads. It is noteworthy that these results are similar to those found
in two other Asian countries--Korea and Japan--where, again, females were less likely to be
portrayed in very negative stereotypical ways than in western nations. As mentioned earlier,
5|Page

the religious and cultural differences between India and western nations may account for
this finding.

2. The polarizing trend found in the West, i.e., a tendency to portray women in dependency
and housewife roles and in nontraditional activities, career-oriented, and authority figure
roles (in British magazine ads), was not found for India by Das' study. 'Polarizing' means
strong opposites where one woman is shown driving all alone in a car with an expression of
confidence on her face juxtaposed against the image of a woman sensually posing for a
cosmetic product or spouting forth the advantages of a health drink for children. In India,
the trend seems to be to portray women less often as housewives or concerned with looks,
but not more often in nontraditional, career-oriented, or authority figure roles. Instead,
there seems to be an increase in neutral portrayals of women, due, in part, to the dramatic
increase in the number of ads for such products.

This might be attributable to the fact that although Indian society is changing, it is still a
patriarchal society and dramatic changes (such as portraying women in nontraditional ways)
may not be accepted as easily in Indian society as in western ones. Any change in role
portrayals of women have to be done while being posited clearly within dominant ideology,
not from without. Furthermore, as studies by G Ramu (1988) and S Bharat (1995) had
found, Indian men and women, regardless of their educational level or career status, hold
conservative perceptions of women's roles within the family.

Thus, although portraying women in neutral ways may be acceptable to Indians, portraying
them in nontraditional ways may not be. Besides, there is an increasing trend in 'family' and
'couple' representations in ads for consumer durables like washing machines, refrigerators
and micro-wave ovens, products earlier dominated by women alone.
Still, with the increasing number of female models shown in advertising today, the media
seem to give more equality to female images, but the underlying messages still emphasise
sexuality, often presenting women as sex objects. Also, the number of women in
"decorative roles" had actually increased over time, according to a 1993 US study by L J
Busy and G Leichty.

"The media has to make an effort to avoid stereotypes,

which are so internalized that we don’t even realize what
we are doing,"
Studies from developed nations indicate that women are generally portrayed
in advertisements as homemakers, dependent on men, and sex objects while
men are portrayed as dominant, authoritative figures. However, very few
researchers have examined role portrayals in ads from developing countries.
This study examined the portrayal of women and men in Indian magazine
ads. Over 1,100 magazine ads from a wide range of magazines in 1987, 1990,
and 1994 were examined. Results indicate that although the portrayals of
women and men in Indian magazine ads have changed over the period, they
are still portrayed in stereotypical ways. Role portrayals in Indian magazine
ads seem to be influenced by the nature of the product being advertised.
6|Page

Mumbai:A few days ago when A.L Sharda, programme director,

Population First, a communication and advocacy NGO, was flipping
through television channels for a presentation on ‘Gender nuances in
advertising’, she discovered a shocking trend.

Majority advertisements featuring children had little boys in varying

shapes, sizes and moods. And the few ads that did feature young girls,
projected them with their mothers in ads for beauty products. Most
reinforced stereotypical images of being chatterboxes, or sweet
delicate ‘things’.

“Majority feature boys as dirty, naughty, rowdy, intelligent, cute or

with celebrities making them appear even more desirable to parents,”
she said, pointing out that when you do see two children in ads, its
usually a boy and girl or two boys and rarely is a family with two girls
spotted.

Drawing attention to the child sex ratio in India, she maintained that
the current ratio of 927 girls for every 1000 boys was a dangerous
indicator of preference for the male child.
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Advertising industry to enhance value of girl child

“There is need to enhance the value of the girl child and the advertising
fraternity can play a role here,” said SV Sista, advertising veteran and
executive trustee, Population First.

While Priti J Nair, national creative director, Grey India agreed with the
view, that as communicators, there was need for greater consciousness
on gender nuances, it was impossible for them to take on the
responsibility of changing society.

Citing the example of the Surf Excel campaign she said the first
challenge for the team was to make women accept dirt as a good thing.
“We got the stereotyped image of a woman washing clothes and
beaming at a freshly washed, white shirt substituted with little boys
rolling in mud. ” Nair worked on the campaign during her stint at Lintas
India Pvt Ltd and she feels that for starters it is better to take one step at
a time.

Echoing the same thought was Sukanya Kripalu, director, Consulting for
Strategic Marketing , saying that while agencies can’t change society
purely through representation in advertising, they should look for
opportunities to highlight instances where society has changed or is
changing.

A classic example was the ad for TVS Scooty, which shows two
sisters in small town India, who are enjoying the freedom and
independence that mobility brings them.

Or the ad for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance where the wife urges
her husband to get life insurance as it would secure their future as well
as provide for their daughter’s education.
9|Page

Experts maintained that advertising could influence society and big

brands could take the initiative to break stereotypes. These did not
necessarily have to translate into a radical anti-thesis. “There is need for
communication to be more reflective. If communicated through these
small departures [from the norm], it could make for an interesting
process,” said Nair, whose ad for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s
(Esteem) featured a conversation between a father and daughter and one
which worked well for the brand.

Santosh Desai, managing director and chief executive officer,

Future Brands drew attention to how little the portrayal of
women in Indian advertising, had changed over the years.
“There are very few new representations. So while the woman is
now out of the home, she still lives within her skin. Anxieties
have shifted from performing within the home to appearing
outside,” he said, drawing attention to the growing number of
ads that featured the “body as a traitor” by highlighting
problems such as dandruff and body odour.
The idea of stealing the consumers love for self and selling it
back, as a product is “purely a market development strategy,” he
said. Also, traditional roles had been upgraded, and it was not
surprising to see the detergent mom being replaced by a washing
machine mom, empowered by technology.
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Women And Negative Stereotypes:

An End Before A Start

We may be reluctant to believe that discrimination against individuals because of their

sex, race, age, sexual orientation or health status still exits in institutions in most
countries. We also may not want to accept the fact that sexual violence is common in all
culture, that women are victims of rape, battering and sexual harassment each day,
despite legislation prohibiting such violence, common policing, workplace policies,
counseling and training programs exist. Yet this is the reality for most women.

The fact that individuals are likely to think of man when they hear a word surgeon
illustrates how we all hold beliefs, attitudes, the stereotype that influence our perception
of the world around us. Which sex do you associate with elementary school teacher?
With model? With engineer? Most individuals still indicates that elementary school
teachers are female, models are female, and engineers are male. Individuals also mark
the cupation if they believe the sex of the person performing this job is typical.
Stereotypes refer to individuals cognitions that typically do not correspond to reality. A
stereotype is a picture in the head not an accurate mirror of the real world.

Stereotypes occur when individuals are classifieds by others as having something in

common because they are members of a particular group or category of people. Gender
stereotypes are a psychological process which illustrates structured sets of beliefs
about the personal attributes of men and women. An awareness of the contents of
gender role stereotypes begins in the preschool years and is rather well-developed by
the time children enter first grade. Parents are among the more important socializing
agents for children in shaping values, beliefs and behaviors related to gender.
Furthermore knowing the sex of the baby conjures up all kinds of personality
characteristics and physical attributes even when these factors are not present in the
child. Parents communicate their stereotypes to children in numerous ways. Boys are
given building blocks, sports equipment and model vehicles. Girls, on the other hand,
are encouraged to play with dolls, dolls houses and miniature household appliances.
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Cultural images of women:-

Culture ideas, symbols, norms and values play a significant role in the creation of
women images and the differentiation of gender roles. The purpose of the present
article is to understand the images of femininity in Indian society from ancient to modern
times. India, a heterogeneous society, presents conflicting women images. The
normative model image of Indian womanhood has displayed remarkable consistency.
Images of women have not remained static and have undergone numerous changes.
However, certain basic models have widespread acceptance. Various cultural images of
women:- Pativrata- unconditional devotion to husband, Glorified Motherhood, Bharat
Mata Image. First at the societal plane, the perception of different categories of women
is distinctly shaped/conditioned by the popularly accepted female images/stereotypes.
Secondly, at the interpersonal level within the family situation, these images frequently
impinge in a variety of ways. Indian girls grow up with deep rooted sense of fear and
insecurity which not only restricts their social mobility in the mundane day to day life but
also often psychologically cripples them to face the hardships of life in general and
resist gender based discrimination in particular. These gender dichotomies, flowing
almost directly from the popular images fostered most significantly, these images in
most Indian families. Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, these images leave a deep
imprint upon women’s self-perception.

Women in Advertisement :-

Advertising has been a prime target of attack and scrutiny. The basic explanation for the
critical focus on sex role portrayal in advertising lies in the close relationship, which
exists between advertising, the consumer goods industry and the crucial economic role
of women as consumers. Generally it is shown in advertisement a woman’s goal in life
is to attract and attain a man:-women are shown in advertising as always young and
attractive. They are frequently depicted as sexual objects. Women in advertisements
are restricted to the home and isolated from other women outside home, man is her
favorite companion. Domesticity is the second role of two dimensional image of
femininity in advertising.

Sex Stereotyping in the Media :-

Far more dangerous than the overtly obscene advertisements are the sexual
stereotypes that are found in different media. The Indian version of sex stereotyping
would have all women behaving like mythological sita and savitri- docile, submissive,
sacrificing, sentimental, superstitious, and incapable of rational action, their primary duty
being wives, companions and devoted mothers. Films are the largest disseminators of
stereotyped images. They have a package formula for women: the latter are shown as
traditional, truly Indian women who are devoted, son producing wives etc. so far
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women’s protests and criticisms have not had much effect on the commercial Hindi film
industry. Television also perpetuates sex stereotypes. In it’s a woman’s world all that
has happened is that the traditional sitas and savitris have given way gracefully to an
alien creature who is new role model for the Indian woman who has the best of both
worlds, is economically independent, progressive, ambitious and very very feminine.
What is being peddled here is grotesque caricatured western lifestyle which is quite far
removed from the average Indian woman’s struggle to survive totally negating and
never questioning her reality. Even though 60% of women are involved in agriculture,
radio programmes for the rural areas are only directed to men. Women’s programmes
almost never discuss technology, banking facilities, new laws or any such issues.

Consequences of Negative Stereotype and sexism for the

individual :-

Society suppresses the choices of males and females through cultural tyranny. The
socialization process forces males and females into behavioral modes, personality
characteristics, and occupational roles deemed appropriate by society. Most important,
these constraints bring about system that is biased in favor of males. Men have the
opportunity to develop their talents while women may only within a severely limited
range. The consequences are as follows:- Relative Powerlessness of Women, Limited
Range of Occupations for Women, Loss of Academic Potential for Women, Lack of
Respect for Women’s Abilities, Low Self-esteem among Women, Trials of the Aging
Women.
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Dell’s Della and Stereotyping women

Dell’s latest marketing initiative, the creation of Della, a site selling netbooks to women had
come in for some flak in the blogosphere. The reason: the site’s patronizing tone of voice and
stereotyping women. On “Seven Unexpected Ways a Netbook Can Change Your Life,” its tips
included, ‘Track your exercise and food intake at free online sites like Fitday,’ and ‘Find recipes
online’. After a backlash, dell added the message, ‘Some of you have read this article over the
last several days & will notice a few modifications. You spoke, we listened. Thank you for your
ongoing feedback.’ The “5 Ways to Use a Netbook” section now boasts that the product can help
women get organized, read eBooks, track workouts, and is easy to take along when traveling.

Are we different in portraying women? Do our ads stereotype them? It’s not just in advertising –
stereotypes are common in all entertainment. In Hindi movies, a South Indian always wears a
white tilak across his forehead and speaks that terrible Hindi. A Sindhi is garish and money-
minded and a Christian is a drunkard. In movies down South, North Indians are money lenders
and any woman who smokes or drinks is a vamp.

Coming back to Dell, there is nothing in the offering that is hardwired to a woman’s specific
need in computing. In any case, do women use Netbooks differently from men? Is it relevant to
women simply because it comes in pink? Marketers do recognize that women play a huge role in
purchase decisions, even outside the traditional household good products. Hero Honda recently
appealed to women through their ‘Why should boys have all the fun ?’ campaign for
Hero Honda Pleasure. It did not talk down to women and made them feel good. The
women-specific features on the bike may be frills, but it made them feel special. Sunsilk’s
‘Gang of Girls’ is an oft-quoted success. ICICI’s portrayal of the wife taking a lead in
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decisions relating to financial products is a significant shift in Indian advertising. Portrayal of

women & stereotyping them is a topic worth a treatise and should be taken into account.

Dolce&Gabbana
Dolce&Gabbana advertisements have been the center of controversy for
years. Their in-your-face and bizarre types of advertising, which often feature
nearly naked models in obscure poses, often show many gender stereotypes
that are detrimental to our society.

Dolce&Gabbana is a company that sells luxury items, including sunglasses,

purses, watches, and very expensive clothing. It’s funny because most of their
advertisements barely have clothing or any of these other items present.
I have found two Dolce&Gabbana advertisements that I am going to critique
in this post. I will point out the major stereotypical issues within each
advertisement.

First of all, the woman lying down looks helpless and passive. This is one of the
biggest stereotypes about women in our society, especially in the media. Also, the
women that are surrounding the scene are all looking at the man. This makes him
seem more important than whatever else is going on in this scene and gives the
15 | P a g e

image that the man has the power in this relationship. The woman in the middle is
also is a very sexual position – almost making this advertisement look like they are
filming a pornography with clothes on. It also looks like the man is naked, but
using the chair to cover up his penis. An advertisement like this gives women the
image that they should lay down and be passive to men, as well as let someone else
videotape them for sexual pleasure. This advertisement gives men the image that
women should be passive to them and that they are allowed to videotape women
doing sexual things in order to exploit it. This imagery gives a false image for both
sexes and is detrimental to our society because it reinforces gender stereotypes.

This particular advertisement has received national and global criticism for its
nature. Men hold all the power is this advertisement. It gives the imagery of the
man trying to rape the woman or take advantage of her with the other men looking
on this situation and approving of it. The woman is subordinate to these men; she
is obviously a sexual object to them and is portrayed as such to the people who see
this advertisement. It gives men the image that it is okay for a man to have power
over a woman and take sexual advantage of her. This is not an image that we
should be presenting to anyone because it gives a false idea to men and women
about how relationships are or should be. People may wonder why there are many
domestic violence cases every year, yet we continue to allow images like this one
in popular magazines across the country.
16 | P a g e

Stereotyping of women has been a major concern with media researchers. Studies
have dealt with the portrayal of women in all forms of media. A close examination
of the literature on stereotyping of women in media revealed that each of these
studies had its focus on at least one or more of the following categories:

1) Women portrayed at home and with familY

2) Women and occupation
3) Women and their age
4) Women and their physical appearance or attire
5) Women as product representatives or as product users
6) Women and stance

Stereotyping has been found to be quite pervasive. For instance, it is even in the
tools of design such as clipart. Therefore, stereotyped images may come pre-
packaged.

Seventy-five percent of all advertisements using women were for

products found in the kitchen or bathroom, reinforcing the stereotype
that a woman’s place is in the home.
Women as compared to men were portrayed mostly in house settings
rather than business settings. Women did not make important decisions
and lastly women were depicted as dependent on men and were regarded
primarily as sexual objects. Women were most likely to be defined not
by occupational or other types of roles, but in roles that defined them in
terms of their relationships with others, i.e. as spouse, girlfriend, parent
or friend.

In conclusion, it is apparent that stereotypes exist today and the happy

housewife. Stereotype is predominant in television commercials. While
this may not be harmful, it does not reflect the total picture of women in
general. Television cultivates a
17 | P a g e

view of the world. A more inclusive depiction of women would provide

women in general particularly young women with options and role
model.