How Advertisements Set Unrealistic Beauty Standards for You

Credits-NBC News

                                                                                 

Gender stereotypes themselves are quite harmless however the moment that they become gender norms or when people start accusing those individuals who ‘fit’ into these stereotypes are ‘fake’ or ‘bad’ is when they get harmful.

Because advertising is designed to sell items and services, they dig into society's psyche while attempting to frame their topics in ways that appeal to potential customers. 

They appeal to popular morality and majoritarian principles because that’s where the majority of their target groups are. They wind up normalizing inflexible, patriarchal norms and strengthening negative values in the process.

One of the Santoor ads shows a very graceful young woman, in a packed cricket stadium, who starts dancing after catching the ball which was presumably going for a six. While she is dancing enthusiastically, a young man played by Actor Varun Dhawan is male-gazing at her. 

A woman (who looks older, and hence, clearly doesn’t use Santoor) pointing at the young woman, informs him that they have finally found their new “college girl” for an upcoming movie. 

He approaches her to discuss more, while they’re interrupted by a little girl who approaches the woman, arms outstretched, crying out, “Mummy!” The entire sports stadium is taken by surprise apparently by the fact that such a graceful, beautiful, fair young woman is also a mother. 

The woman is next shown bathing using the Santoor soap which is just outright ridiculous. It doesn’t end there, however; the woman is later revealed to be not a ‘Mrs.’ but a ‘Doctor.’

The ad promotes a prototypical body type and covertly body shames every ‘body figure’ that doesn’t look like the one shown on screen. It works on the underlying assumption that mothers cannot be ‘heroines’ in movies, that doctors cannot be mothers and that doctors cannot be as attractive. 

Similarly, another Santoor ad starring Saif Ali Khan where he mistakes a fair-skinned woman to be a model and as soon as he finds out that she’s a photographer, couldn’t resist himself uttering, “wow” and is shown to be deeply shocked when she is revealed as a mother too. What’s more disappointing is the fact that this stereotypical ad doesn’t end here.

This complete exaggeration of a woman just because she’s ‘fair’ affects millions of women sitting in various parts of the country. They start hating themselves because of either their body shapes or skin colour and this, often leads to depression among young women who should actually be taught to embrace themselves. 

Key findings in the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Data Brief show that women are almost twice as likely as are men to have depression because of the various stressors in their both personal and professional lives. 

The occupation of women has been made extremely limited under this umbrella of patriarchy. Such ads are based on taboos and stereotypical gender roles leading to unnatural, unrealistic expectations from women. And the worst part is, they are so overused that no one even thinks of questioning such norms. 

The advertisements are based on Fungibility and denial of autonomy. The unnatural and shameful portrayal of women by the media is one of the major causes of objectivity, self-hatred, insecurities, eating disorders, and more uncountable problems we face every day.

 These ads hinge on showcasing a woman’s desirability based on appearances, catering to the ideal standards presented by cishet males- and thus presenting the product to a very gendered market.

Thus, in these ads, two-thirds of all female characters are of light or medium skin tones. This reaffirms the stereotype that light skin is desirable and we are back in the cycle of insecurity and depression. Indian ad makers are in a position of power but they need to be reminded of it because their content shapes minds across the country. 

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just about planting trees, it’s about responsible advertising putting out the right message. Philosopher, Marshall McLuhan called advertisements “the cave art of the 20th century.” We are a hundred years wiser today but still stuck with the same old “cave art”

Written By: Aishwarya Neeraj