The Analysis of Women’s Representation in Indian Television Advertisements

Abstract

Advertising has a high influence on the cultural environment of India and is one of the most vital sources of revenue that supports and motivates the vast majority of commercial media. It can even be said that advertising is the basic force that stands behind all the other operational media industries. We come across many advertisements while watching television on daily basis and if these advertisements are built on ethical grounds, they are beneficial to advertisers as well as its targeted audiences. However, there is a rising concern about some advertising companies that are using unethical content of advertising that has a harmful effect on the society.

Descriptive research design and content analysis research technique has been used for the analysis of different television advertisements. This paper is based on both the secondary as well as primary data that has been collected through different books, published articles and advertisements telecasted on Indian television. The present paper is focused on the representation of women in Indian advertisements. How advertisements portray women on television through a very effective tool of media i.e., via a short duration of video content that put a great impression on people’s mind. The paper also focuses on how these advertisements reinforce stereotypical image of women through patriarchal norms and values. Women are often depicted in advertisements as objects of desires and such depiction often leads to violence against them. Advertisements depict the world from a masculine point of view, representing women as mere a sexual object. This kind of framing, what Laura Mulvey called the male gaze, encourages men viewers to see women as sexual objects and compels women to see themselves as objects of men’s desire.