While it’s reassuring to have advertisements challenge societal norms and stereotypes (dark-skinned brides, remarriage for women and even anti-women real Google searches), we probably ought to reverse gender roles for a while. And then decide if we still feel as pro-women, anti-men about the situation:
We need more ads like these. To make us stop in our tracks and examine our attitudes… and double standards.
The latest Tanishq TVC, for instance. For every dozen — or couple of dozen — ads that show dark-skinned women (dusky for the politically correct, blackies for the politically incorrect) attacking themselves with fairness creams, soaps, face washes, scrubs and whatchamacallit to increase their marriageability quotient, there comes along one little ray of light with commercials like this one. The minute-and-a-half-long gem from the jewellery brand kills two birds with one stone. Not only does it show a woman with a dusky complexion getting ready for her wedding (minus the fairness products) but surprise, surprise, we soon see that she’s a mother (of one little girl) who’s in fact set to remarry.
The ad shows a woman getting ready to remarry
Even as the undying optimist in me wants to hope that little steps like these will help alter a few mindsets, the cynic within wonders at the extent to which the average Indian can stomach this “courageous” ad. Will the woman’s skin tone make people flinch, even involuntarily for a couple of seconds? Will the man’s decision for having settled for “used goods” elicit a disapproving, oh-dear-he’s-such-a-loser head-bob?
But before we get carried away in a wave of bra-burning feminism, let’s just take a minute to reverse the roles. What if it was the man with a dusky complexion, a child from a previous marriage (yes, it’s still unconceivable in our country for a child born out of wedlock to be flaunted in front of society) all set to remarry? Wouldn’t a majority of us (irrespective of our gender) have automatically labelled the man an opportunist taking dvantage of the woman, who’s nothing but a hapless victim?
And talking about victims, that’s the recurring theme of the all-new UN Women campaign by O&M… somewhat in the vein of the visually-hardhitting Abused Goddesses campaign. It uses real Google searches starting with innocuous words such as “women shouldn’t”, while the results from the auto-complete verdict read “have rights, vote, work, box”. And “women need to”… “be put in their place, know their place, be controlled, be disciplined”. You get the drift…
I was tempted to ask Google what it thought of the unfair sex; here are the results of the role reversal. “Men shouldn’t”… “hit women, hit women quotes, marry, wear flip-flops”. “Men need to”… “feel needed, ejaculate, be loved; women need to be wanted, be needed”. “Men cannot”… “live without women, get HIV from women, be feminists, be trusted”. “Men should”… “weep, always pray, wear saree, be allowed to hit women”.
Some funny, some offensive, some downright cute. However, there’s no way to ascertain the gender of the imbeciles who searched for such inanities. Not a reason to go on a man-hating spree, is it now?
The opinions expressed are those of the writer/columnist and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this website.
Image via UN Women
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