Vol: 1, Issue: 1 2011

Page: 037-049

Changing Role of Women in Indian Advertising

Dr Sumi Khare, Neha Srivastava, Dr Sankalp Srivastava

Much has been written about depiction of women in advertisements. Sometimes it is argued that women are displayed in advertisements as sex objects. They are also portrayed in stereotypical roles as submissive and hardworking homemakers having only job of cooking delicious dishes for husband or making his shirt “whiter than white”, or as girl child being a prospective mother who has to do traditional job of nursing babies, cooking, washing and cleaning. But off late, Indian advertising has witnessed a significant transformation in the manner women are shown. Many contemporary advertisements portray women in a more positive way i.e. as independent, assertive, enjoying life and a career woman. Women are now more exposed to education and are increasingly joining workforce, they have greater social and cultural mobility now than their mothers and grandmothers. Since they have now independent purchasing power, they are now being more valued at home. And therefore, they are no more a commodity‟ or „sex symbol‟. This article deals with fastly changing role portrayal in Indian commercials by having a look on some representative advertisements. The emphasis is to link role depiction of women in advertisements with the emerging status of women in Indian Society as advertisements are reflection of changes in the societal fabric.