Opinion: Will the real (Ad) woman please stand up

Sanchita Sinha of Lowe Lintas talks about the unchanging representation of women in advertisements and the need to break through the mold.

My day job in advertising requires me to reach out to women of all age groups and tell them little stories as to why they cannot live without x, y or z products in their lives. Different conversations, different persuasive angles, painting different pictures to prove my point.

For the most part I mine my instincts, my little life, to build convincing arguments. Because as women, we have a million shades to us. Every fear, every insecurity, every reason for joy, is so varied. Each motivating thought, each desire, each intense need to leave the past behind, so nuanced, so mottled. 

But there’s one thing that’s been bothering me for a while now. While we grow, evolve, step forth, widen our horizons, the women who inhabit our Adverts, who walk through our stories bringing them to life, have somehow stayed the same, for years. Ever the nurturer, ever the giver. Mother, wife, daughter in law, in that order. Sometimes a friend, a sister, and almost never an explorer. And no matter which way you cut it, inside out, outside in, these women at the core, are slicing up the same, I’d say. Broadly. 

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It’s true, a few bold ones, have carved out identities for themselves, got jobs even. But it’s barely mentioned in passing in our Ads. A few throw away cues layered into a scene, an open laptop, an office bag in the corner, the tail end of a video call.

You may say, it’s not true. Women within our Ads are now bold, choosing partners of the same sex, standing up to their bosses at work, making sure their partners help share the load at home or, ensure their children learn how to win, captain a cricket team, or stand up against the systemic boxing of Indian brides … But let’s play fair! That’s a single digit percentage of what we see.

So I ask, are women in advertisements falling behind? 

If the answer is yes, then I dare to ask why? Women in cinema have moved way, way ahead. Further even than most of us (air quotes) modern women. If women on the big screen, captured in long format are allowed subtleties, nuances that we women in real life are sometimes not bold enough to wear; why is that generosity not extended to women who live in our Adverts? Why must they live forever as nurturers, mother figures?  

If the answer is no, then I must ask … why? Has the world stopped moving for most women. Are they trapped forever in their mother molds. Packing lunch boxes, cleaning homes. Focused on the happiness of their husbands and children. And that is the reality we are pushed to mirror? 

It’s a question that’s seeped through into my dreams at night. Who is this woman I’m trying to reach? Is she the one who gets a day off on Women’s Day? Gets treated like a queen on Mother’s Day? Or is she, the ‘all giving’ woman of our Ads, and doesn’t really care. Because her life is not her own anyway.

The article is penned by Sanchita Sinha, Executive Creative Director at Lowe Lintas.

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.