By Sunidhi Gupta

Abstract

Media helps shape the opinions of the consumers who take in data presented through the internet, television or advertisements on any source. Women’s representation in advertisements gives an overview of how society characterises women. This article aims to span how women’s representation in media has evolved. However, there is still a long journey from objectification to empowerment. 

INTRODUCTION

The media play a very significant role in shaping gender roles in society, especially the women whose roles in the media world have evolved. If statistics are looked at until 2011, leading roles given to women in movies were only 26%. It did not change until 2018 when the percentage of women in lead roles increased to 41%. These statistics imply how young minds were to believe that women being secondary to men is normal despite women having evolved and battled this mindset to come to the forefront with the power of the media, but the journey is long. Within media, advertisements represent what society accepts and enjoys, even with evolved times. They also portray a glorified picture of the world’s workings that might not be positive each time. 

Advertisements have always contributed immensely to creating stereotypes and assigning gender roles that lead to unrealistic expectations from a particular gender. Previous studies have noted how women towards women about duties in the home, in relationships, about sexual orientation, and as ornamental elements. They have also brought attention to women’s portrayal as subservient, reflected even in nonverbal signs. Previous research has determined strong stereotyped gender role representation in television ads. In addition to giving the audience a false impression of what women are like, these stereotypes inspire women to aspire to the same goals. 

TIMELINE OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISING

The representation of 50s and 60s women showed them restraint in the kitchen, managing and being the caretaker. According to a global meta-analysis of advertising at that time, women are far more likely to be portrayed as reliant and at home than males. However, women’s representation is more varied than males in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Too many times, women were still depicted as sex symbols or as unachievable ideals of beauty. The 1990s and the 21st century saw the continuation of this representation. Social media platforms led to the development of new channels for marketing and communication. There is a significant influence on how young girls see themselves in social media.

With time, the representation of women was comparatively weak. The second class has become more independent and is still an issue of concern. Even when there has been a reduction in stereotypical roles, objectification of women to attract consumers as a dynamic marketing concept is still very prevalent. So, the other very relevant question that comes up in this journey to empowerment is whether it is correct to demean a woman to the level of a sexual object to garner more views and eventually lead to a bad reputation and negative perception only. Not only this, the sexual objectification of women in advertisements leads to the unrealistic formation of expectations resulting from limited self-development in the women’s lives, reducing their sense of self-worth and dissatisfaction with their bodies. There is a lively discussion about how to negotiate the radical potential of women’s bodies in a very patriarchal and neoliberal environment. This issue frequently catalyses significant ideological disagreement in the modern feminist movement and discourse. But that is beyond the purview of this article.  

OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS

There is a lot of literature on the objectification of women in advertisements, especially examining if sex appeal adds to consumer stimulus and increases sales. It also questions its ethical ideology. According to the study, print advertisements with a sexual theme did not go over well. It was viewed as unethical to use a more subdued sexual theme. Men and women in the research sample had ethical concerns about the use of blatantly sexual advertisements. Determining the boundary of what constitutes an immoral and unproductive sexual appeal is one of the main challenges and areas of future research. The study also concludes that, given the attention on the moral and ethical issues surrounding female role depictions in advertising as a feminist problem, sexual ads that have done well in the past would not be in the current advertising environment. 

It is not uncommon for Indian advertising to regard women as commodities or objects by taking advantage of their sexuality and breaking the body down into separate pieces. Women in leisure or swimwear-related photos, with images of various body parts—such as the leg, breast, and genital area—and dressed as ‘beautiful objects’. There are examples of such advertisements where the woman is a lead. The negative aspect is how the brand endorses its product using sexual appeal. One of them is the advertisement of ‘Slice’ by Katrina Kaif. The Slice commercial adapts the sexual connotation linked with chocolate and other sweet foods to mangoes. It features a semi-bare Katrina Kaif, further highlighting her sensuality. The ‘Lux’ advertisement of Kareena Kapoor may be an example of subconscious symbolic language used to acknowledge the connection between sexuality and the need for consumer products. Women now have a more independent choice in what they consume owing to graphic commercial representation.

FROM OBJECTIFICATION TO EMPOWERMENT 

Although there has been some progress in lessening the stereotypes of women in advertising, the process of erasing these stereotypes takes time because they have been there for over 200 years. Femvertising is an attempt to lessen gender prejudice by showcasing women in jobs and places of authority. A technique known as ‘female-empowered advertising’ is called advertising. With the rise of women’s rights movements, societal shifts, and the latest trends in gender equality, advertising is becoming more and more frequent. Numerous scholars have refuted the media’s portrayal of faux-feminism and focused on the urgent need to increase sincere corporate benevolence advertising.    

As the proportion of influential women in society increased, women broke through the glass ceiling. The year 2019 saw a change in the film business as the proportion of women employed there reached an all-time high. Men still outnumbered women in jobs, though, and this contributed to the beginning of a change in societal standards. However, everyone agrees that men and women are, even today, shown following conventional gender roles in advertisements. Advertising, marketers and companies must assume responsibility for portraying women in a contemporary, favourable light to challenge societal norms and advance the cause of gender equality. Advertisers must ensure building long-term brand relationships and keeping an eye on the short-term objective of bringing about the required behavioural changes. Ads that positively represent women have a beneficial impact on the company. Women’s portrayal in advertisements might affect how people feel about the quality of the work. Attitudes regarding advertisements shift in favour of them when companies feature women in a good light.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, there is a considerable difference in men’s and women’s portrayal during advertisements. Stereotypical representation of women is still prevalent in commercials, even though they now hold better positions and functions. Advertisers must elevate women’s roles and reduce disparities brought about by gender stereotypes. The position of women will improve if the advertisers decide to support women across all product categories instead of only beauty, domestic, or cleaning items. Additionally, advertisers need to exercise caution when portraying particular role depictions of women, as some may elicit more negative attraction than others—this is especially true when showing women as weak and submissive.  

Author’s Bio

Sunidhi Gupta is a student at Jindal Global Law School in her fourth year of BA. LLB (Hons.).

Image Source: https://eosmarketing.it/en/femvertising-the-evolution-of-women-in-advertising/