Dabur forced to drop its same-sex Karwa Chauth campaign shows deep-rooted sexism in Indian TV advertising

In the column Let's Talk About Women, Sneha Bengani looks at films, the world of entertainment, and popular media through the feminist lens. Because it's important. Because it's needed. And because we're not doing it enough.*We may not be singing “Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma, sabki pasand Nirma” as loudly anymore, but we still cannot take a lesbian couple celebrating Karwa Chauth.Dabur had to withdraw its Fem’s Karwa Chauth campaign from social media on Tuesday after Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra threatened legal action over it. 2021 may be nearing the end but we still stand firmly rooted where we were all these years ago when Usha sold its sewing machines asking you to “train” your daughter to be “an ideal housewife” or when Bournvita told women “Pati ki khushi aapki khushi hai.”Centuries of patriarchy and misogyny packaged neatly in palatable chunks and served day after day with tea and dinner through newspapers and TV, and no one bats an eyelash. Be it “Jo biwi se kare pyaar wo Prestige se kaise kare inkaar?” or Tide’s “Mrs ko boliye brush lagane ko” or Imperial Blue’s “Men will be men” or Head & Shoulders telling you to not use your wife’s shampoo or else you will stop being a man (what does that even mean?), sexism in advertising is a tale as old as time. As long as we show women domesticated and minding their family’s welfare, all is well with the world. Show them mindful of their agency and exercise it, all hell breaks loose.[caption id="attachment_10097541" align="alignnone" width="640"]

A still from MTR ad[/caption]Last year, Tanishq also faced wrath for an ad showing the baby shower of a South-Indian Hindu woman married to a Muslim man. Detractors claimed it promoted love jihad. It angered people so much so that they got #BoycottTanishq trending on Twitter, and even attacked a showroom of the jewelry brand in Kutch.

The message is simple — women can be either of the following three in Indian ads. The caregiving, dutiful mother and/or wife, or someone in her early 20s trying to be the prettiest, fairest, and fittest version of herself or a hyper-sexualised nymphomaniac. Any deviations from these tropes — however minor — are deeply inconvenient, and therefore threatening, needing immediate withdrawal or ban.

Mishra found the ad “objectionable,” and said he considered this “a serious matter.” What about when Ford released a cartoon showing three voluptuous and skimpily-clad women bound and gagged in Figo’s boot to highlight the hatchback’s extra storage space? The ad’s tagline was: Leave your worries behind. Not objectionable enough? Or when a multinational fast-food chain like Nando’s published an ad that read, “We don’t mind if you touch our buns, or breasts, or even our thighs. Whatever you’re into, enjoying any Nando’s meal with your hands is always recommended.” Not offensive enough? Of course not. After all, we are a nation that needs to sexualise mango juice to sell it. We label it the “thickest” mango drink. We call the deeply problematic portrayal of it all “Aamsutra.”

A study by UNICEF and Geena Davis Institute (GDI) on Gender in Media released in April this year found that Indian ads reinforce “harmful gender roles that shape the lives of girls and women in the country.” The report, titled ‘Gender Bias & Inclusion in Advertising in India,’ analysed gender representation in 1,000 most-viewed TV and YouTube advertisements during 2019.

Talking about it, Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actor, and the GDI’s founder, told The Hindu, “Misrepresentation and harmful stereotypes of women in advertising have a significant impact on women — and young girls — and how they view themselves and their value to society. While we do see female representation dominate in Indian ads, they are still marginalised by colourism, hypersexualisation, and without careers or aspirations outside of the home.”

If our ads try to break free of these archaic moulds, they end up “hurting sentiments,” and are either banned or taken down. What are we communicating to the younger generation that is eager to take charge and make a difference?

I wonder if they have seen Radhika Apte promote Durex’s extra thin flavoured condoms on her Instagram yet.

When not reading books or watching films, Sneha Bengani writes about them. She tweets at @benganiwrites.