International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue IX, September 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Portrayal of Women in Advertisements

 Garima Gupta¹, Rashmi Pal^2
1M.A. Education, Azim Premji University
²M.Ed. Second year, Department of Education, University of Delhi, India

Abstract: Our society is diverse in multiple ways which many times have also led to stratification and marginalisation of people. Gender is one such category. Society has its own images and portrayals of/for women and they contribute in determining the status of the women against other genders. In a demorcratic country, the media becomes a strong influencer and shaper of the public/society’s opinion. Status of women is also something that is not left untouched by the media’s influence . The objective of this research was to look at the portrayal of women in one small part of the media i.e. the advertisements aired on the mainstream channels of India. Through a thematic analysis of the advertisements aired on the mainstream channels, it was observed that the roles that women play in them can be categorised broadly into decorative, responsive and independent roles. Through a careful analysis it was concluded that the advertisements play a huge role in reproduction of the gender stereotypes around women and act as an influence in their status in the society today.

Keywords: Advertisements, Gender, Portrayal, Stereotypes, Women

I. INTRODUCTION

Women in Advertisements:

Society is influenced by different aspects such as cultural values, lifestyle and behavior of individuals. Mass media also plays a significant role in perpetuating values in society. It is considered as an important tool to influence and transmit social values. Advertisements are one of the mediums which communicate the masses to propagate the ideology beneath the messages between seller (advertiser) and buyer (consumer). They are known as powerful marketing tools which influence the purchasing behavior of consumers and parallelly penetrate into their cultural lives with language and social messages which are used.
Paff, Lakner (1997) mentioned that “Advertising is a highly visible and seemingly controversial agent of socialization”. It is also observed that viewers not only watch advertisements on television to decide whether to buy the product for consumption, they also associate and analyze the roles which are shown on television.