Name – Aman Kumar
Course – BMS 1ST YEAR
Roll No. - 6558
How do you think Masculinity is being redefined in Indian Advertisements? Explain your views with
suitable examples.
'Being a MAN' is what you get first when you hear the word Masculinity. The Oxford dictionary too,
defines it like that. A little elaborate definition of what Being a man is, comes from Wikipedia i.e.
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with boys and men.. Before one can
discuss this, one must first understand the concept of “gender”. It must be stressed that gender is a
cultural construct and refers to “the behaviours, attitudes, values & beliefs which a particular society
expects from, or considers appropriate to, males and females on the basis of their anatomical "sex".
From this view, social and cultural groups such as family, friends, schools, religion, mass media etc. have
defined norms that they expect a particular sex to fulfill.
This is the traditional idea of gender identity. Masculinity is typically associated with machoism,
toughness, aggression, courage and virility while femininity shows beauty, softness, nurturance, and
cooperation. Men are supposed to be stronger and women are weak and are dependable on them. The
old Indian folklores and Hindu mythological readings too have mention of male superiority, though the
men are glorified gods in these contexts. Valmiki Ramayana showed Sita, Rama's wife to be a helpless
woman waiting eagarly for her husband to save her from Ravana. Ahilya, who was cursed by her
husband, sage Gautama to become a stone for infidality as Indra took her husband's form to seduce her.
It was clearly not her fault but she paid the price for her husband's anger and Indra's lust. In several
stories of Krishna leela, Krisha is shown to be the ultimate handsome bachelor of Vrindavan who
mesmerised several young ladies of the village. In a related epic of Mahabharata, Draupadi, the wife of
Pandava brothers was humiliated and harrassed by Kauravas for no wrong-doings of her own.
The phrase ‘Mard ko dard nahi hota’ was exemplified and glorified by the angry young man of
Bollywood in the 1970s. It was that muscular man who fought with the evil forces and adhered to his
values, whatever be the situation. This gave a beginning to stereotypical presentation of masculinity in
Bollywood as well as in advertising. Marketers used this as an opportunity to sell everything from
underwear to soaps to cars. And since this nature of masculine dominance over powerless females was
prevalent in the early Indian society and this was also clearly visible in the commercials of that time.
Across many of the ads, boys and men were placed in elevated positions of masculine power and
strength compared to girls and women, who were often depicted as passive, submissive participants
dependent on, or seeking the approval of, men. It is men who drive the action of a particular scene such
as Shahrukh Khan being the ultimate desire of different women who use different soaps to enhance their
beauty, or Men eats while the woman serve in a Punjabi household.
Such themes appear repeatedly in popular culture including advertisements and are often accepted by
those who see them as natural aspects of the human condition. Brands like 'Kinder joy' offer separate
packaging for Boys and Girls with blue and pink colour respectively. This sows the idea of masculinity,
pretty early in children's mind that girls play with barbies and boys play with cars.
This defines the roles or professions, jobs and tasks they are supposed to do being from a specific
gender. The things they are supposed to like, the clothes, toys and even the way they are supposed to
behave is all defined in gender rules. Gender displays are used heavily in advertising in order to establish
the role of one gender in relation with the other. This advertising that depict stereotypical gender roles
who is known as Gender advertisement. Brands are clearly differentiating their products based on
gender. Advertising taught us that if you are a man, you cannot use the talcum powder with a flowery
fragrance, because that is strictly for women. Also, Men cannot use a fairness cream meant for women
because they have tougher skin and it does not go with their masculine personality.
The TV commercial for 'Fair and Handsome' Fairness cream had a line,"Why use women fairness cream,
being a man!".
Within the Indian context, portrayals of the traditional idea of masculinity have been most evident in
alcohol advertisements, particularly advertisements for beer.
Drinking alcohol was a masculine thing to do, and this was clearly dipicted in the Labett's advertisment
hoarding. "Here is the Real man's Ale", said the poster of Labett' IPA brand selling this full strength beer
as a strong beer for strong men.
Another example of a beer advertisement that plays on male stereotypes is that of Black Dog Whiskey.
This advertisements depict a group of friends drinking beer and fooling around in different situations.
Both of these beer advertisements reinforce the ideas of male camaraderie and adventure.
In a similar vein, many advertisements for motor vehicles have been loaded with extremely gendered
messages and have been aimed specifically at a male market. For example, the Mahindra Bolero
advertisement reinforces the stereotype of men as brave and independent adventurers who can escape
the constraints of everyday life and be free. What we see emerging in all of these advertisements is a
variety of different facets of male stereotypes: physical strength, team-work and camaraderie and
adventure are particularly evident. What is particularly important here is the fact these are not
advertisements for any gender specific products; anyone can drink beer or drive a Jeep. The decision to
pair these products with traditional masculine lifestyle choices lends a specific gendered quality to these
products.
Not just being stereotypical, some of these advertisements were also highly sexist in nature. These ads
clearly mention the submissiveness of women in front of men. The idea of violence equaling masculinity
is tied in to advertising in many ways which links it specifically to our gender studies in general. This TV
commercial of Head & Shoulders MEN portrays that Gossips are women traits and men should avoid
them.
Another advertisement published by Ford India created a series of speculation against Ford India for the
sexism they promoted. This advertisment showed women tied up in the trunk of a Ford driven by ex-
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The apni had to issue on apologizing statement also mentioning
that these posters were created by individuals within the agency and did not go through the normal
review and oversight process. They also assured that a strict disciplinary action was taken against who
were involved after an internal review.
With the wave of feminist movement, Indian advertising industry changed its way a of producing
gender specific advertising and resorted to much gender neutral productions. The main motive behind
the idea of feminism was to end the patriarchy and promote equality of men and women. The age of
redefinition of masculinity and empowerment of the yet subjugated feminine gender began. Some
brands dared to break stereotypes beautifully and showcase the contemporary woman in her all new
form.
● Havell's Hawa Badlegi commercial
A couple sitting at a registrar's office, with the husband taking the wife's last name and making
the official do a double take. A brilliant yet simple take to break the gender stereotype.
● Ariel's Share the Load
In Ariel's 'Share The Load' ad, a father watches his daughter juggle work and household chores.
After instrospecting his own role at house, he tries to bring a positive change in the family. He
agrees to share laundry duties with his wife.
● Titan Raga: "#HerLifeHerChoices"
Titan Raga celebrated the ‘Woman of today’ in this empowering advertisement. They showed us
a strong and independent woman who is capable of making her own life choices. She has
aspirations and is not afraid to take control of her life in her hands. It is really interesting to see
how they have depicted a high-spirited woman with an aura of beauty eloped in her.
The specific gender roles of men and women have been loosened and there have been several
exchanging of duties which showed that our society today has became more gender dynamic. The
culture of working moms and house husbands is starting to normalize in our society. Men who were
supposed to do tough and physical work are now also seen in kitchen as world class chefs or as fashion
designers, painters etc. Women on the other hand are are now seen in various "male oriented" jobs like
Train engine drivers or Sport players etc. This advertisement of Tata i-shakti dal has Chef Sanjeev Kapoor
promoting a household kitchen product.
Sometimes the traditional gender roles are reversed. When this happens, one can see men behaving in
ways that are generally associated with femininity, and women behaving in typically masculine ways.
This is often the case in gay and lesbian advertising. India is still budding when it comes to this arena of
advertising. But after Supreme court of India decriminalised section 377 which illegalize homosexual sex,
Gay dating apps such as Romeo are coming out and advertising in India on digital media platforms like
YouTube etc.
Conclusion
Advertisements are used to sell stuff to people who might not need it in the first place. That is the main
reason corporations spend a lot of money on them: to basically fuel consumerist ideals in the
society.The main reason would be the messages that are attached with these ads. The people in the
media and advertising industry play on the predominant images that surround everyone. In developing
countries like India, the middle class and neo-liberal aspirations find a reflection in some of these
advertisements; the main idea being that buying and consuming a product or service will somehow lead
to upward social mobility of the person and/or the family. These ads work at a subconscious level by
making the brain seek connections with the audio visuals people consume everyday.
