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Indian advertisements have been repeatedly called out for their blatantly sexist messaging. This Kwality Walls ad celebrating a little girl's 'round rotis'...sigh.
Indian advertisements, just like the rest of Indian media such as music and cinema, have been repeatedly called out for their blatantly sexist messaging. This ad celebrating a little girl’s ’round rotis’…sigh.
We had men’s deodorant companies showing how women can be ‘won’ (like prizes) in droves if you smell a certain way, we had girls hiding their faces in shame because of a minuscule pimple or because they were dark (and hence, not marriage worthy or capable of getting a job or friends!), we had sad homemakers moping over their washed clothes not being bright enough or their cleaned utensils not sparkly enough until the advent of a certain washing powder or dish washing gel.
However, of late, we’re witnessing a positive change. With the changing socioeconomic scenario and a focus on gender equality, many ad-makers are conveying empowering messages through their advertisements. So, now we have washing powders talking about ‘sharing the load’ of the housework between the man and the woman of the house, we are witnessing daughters trying to help their mothers build their own careers, we are seeing advertisements where women are constantly breaking the glass ceilings at work or breaking the stereotypes attached to their genders. So, with these positive changes around us, I was shocked to the core to see this 20 seconds Kwality Walls ad.
Here, a mother comes in with her young daughter while the rest of the family is seated at the dining table. The mother announces, ‘Tan-a-nan chhoti ki pehli gol roti’, and the rest of the household start celebrating this achievement with Kwality ice-cream. So, a little girl making round rotis was the best cause of celebration that the ad-makers could come up with, huh? And you know, what was the worst part? There is a young boy sitting at the table and who takes the roti in his hand and admires its roundness!
That is the moment that hit me the most! Like, you could literally turn around the message into something empowering by showing both the children coming out of the kitchen with their respective round rotis and that in itself could have been a cause for celebration! But no, apparently the ad-makers felt it was a cause for celebration ONLY when a little girl manages to make a round roti!
Maybe, her next achievement will be to cook a perfect seven-course meal, who knows? Because you know, stereotyping gender roles are so attractive and how it helps maintain our Sanskari society’s status quo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jya-uBEODtk%20
No, Kwality Walls, gender stereotyping is not cool! Not in this day and age. Maybe, next time take a message or two from advertisements like this one by Brooke Bond Red Label where the underlying messaging is that a boy making tea doesn’t become a girl, rather he is someone whom all girls like.
The advertisement media plays a crucial role in influencing the society’s mindset and hence advertisements that perpetrate sexism are indirectly encouraging the same. It’s high time such ad-makers realize that and bring about a change in the messages that they convey.
Kasturi’s debut novel, forthcoming in early 2021, had won the novel pitch competition by Half Baked Beans Publishers. She won the Runner Up Position in the Orange Flower Awards 2021 for Short Fiction. Her read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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