Communication skills project

Trimester – II

Project concept

Image of women in
advertisements

Group members

Roll no. name

276 - pradip patel

 Introduction

Historically women have been non- privileged and disadvantaged

across most cultures. Social empowerment of women is the first
step towards their long overdue economic and subsequent political
empowerment, and the basic andnecessary prerequisite for
women’s social empowerment is that they be treated with respect
and dignity by society.
We therefore begin by enunciating just one of the problems that we
perceive not just the stereotypical but unethicaland offensive
representations of women in advertisements that work to their
detriment and also succeed in perpetuating the gender hierarchy
that should be put to an end.
Over the years, and especially during the last decade, India has
developed a fairly extensive communication infrastructure. The
subject of portrayal of women in Indian media has drawn the
attention of media critiques in the present times. It arises especially
when our society is going through a period of social change.
Women have been portrayed, as men would like to see them-
beautiful creatures, submissive mothers of their children, efficient
housekeepers, but nothing else.
Women have been portrayed, as domestic providers who do not
make significant decisions, are dependent on men, and are
essentially sex objects. A study found that offensive ads had
declined, but the roles offered to women are very limited. Many
involve a woman’s confinement to the domestic sphere—caring for
children, cleaning the house, shopping for groceries and making
meals for a husband that women were still seen as believed to be
weak.
 Advertisements
1. HERO HONDA

Hero Honda appeals to the young adventurous woman. She is

single and carefree and will travel many a mile for life’s better
experiences. With great mileage a Hero Honda scooter is exactly
what she needs to make her travel dreams come true! She is
adventurous and can take her decisions on her own. ‘She can
travel across the mountains just to listen to her grandmother sing’,
truly signifying the modern women.
 2. SHOPPERS STOP

Let’s begin with Shoppers Stop. They have always been more
or less consistent in their portrayal of women. Their women are
independent, bindaaz and bold. She believes in herself and is not
afraid to indulge, presumably because she earns- in other words
the ideal shopper! The women are perfectly justifying the ‘starts
something new’ logo of shoppers stop. Hereby the women
shopping stereotype highlighted in a positive way with her starting a
new trend.
 3. BLENDER’S CHOICE AND HINDWARE

In an attempt to make the advertisement seem 'desirable',

advertisers associate their product with an 'attractive' image. This
attractive image always is a woman, who provides the “desirable”
image for the ad, irrespective of her relevance to the ad. In the
above two ads for “Blenders choice” liquor & “Hindware sanitary
ware”, the women are just means to attract attention. . The
Blenders choice ad portrays the woman as a thing to be tasted and
the Hindware ad strategically places the product on the women’s
breast. Both ads merely objectify women .The women have no
relevance whatsoever to the product that is being promoted.
 4. ANSAL PLAZA AND GROOM IN

Women are also portrayed in ads as unthinking beings preoccupied

with trivial matters. The ads for “Ansal Plaza” & “Grooms In” as
shown above, portray them as shallow, and have mundane
thoughts such as shopping and good clothes. The tag line in print
(above) illustrates“Her husband has an extramarital affair and she
knows it”, so as to say that she is not worried or bothered about her
marriage as much as she is about her shopping in the mall. In print
ad (right), two brides are 'willing' to marry the groom, for he is
wearing the salwar suits manufactured by their brand. This
highlights the narrow and old thinking of women with shopping and
she being insane for shopping.
 5. LEVIS AND LEE COOPER

The women in most ads for women’s attires are highly sexualized
especially so in ads for jeans. The ads for “Levis red loop” which
one can see on many billboards show the model wearing “just” the
jeans and covering her torso with her hands. The “Lee cooper” ad
shows the female model again “covering” her upper part of her
body with a bead necklace. Why must be a women’s torso be
exposed for advertising a pair of jeans? The bodies of women have
been reduced to an object of exploitation for the male sexual urge
in such ads.
 CONCLUSION

Men v/s women portrayal in advertisements.

Studies indicate that women are generally portrayedin
advertisements as homemakers, dependent on men, and sex
objects whilemen are portrayed as dominant, authoritative
figures.Men and women appear in different roles, in
differentsettings, and for different types of products, women are
found more often in ads for home products, baby items, cosmetics,
and food items whereas menare seen more often in ads for
“masculine” products such as automobiles,alcohol, insurance,
financial services, and business products.Secondly, there is some
evidence that the nature ofgender-role portrayals is also affected by
the type of product being advertised.For example, women are more
likely to be portrayed stereotypicallyin ads for publishing,
recreation, clothes, and cosmetics but less likely tobe portrayed
stereotypically in ads for tobacco, travel, food, and financial
services.

Hence in the end we would like to conclude that the positive sides
of women's progress and their contribution for national
development have not been adequately discussed in the media of
communication. The emphasis on stories about women, about their
struggle for recognition is only the surface trimming. The actual
message to audience still is that society opposes the liberation of
women. Media being a popular medium should treat men and
women equal and focus more on realistic ways then just using a
women to sell their product (like a perfume ad to seduce a women,
shaving cream ads luring and many more).