Moving past stereotypical portrayals in festive campaigns

We can agree on this much. Gone are the days of blatant sexual objectification of women. Before you celebrate, let me introduce you to emotional objectification of women. Particularly that of women in festive ad campaigns. The mother and her overflowing emotion for her family; her innate duty for her family to be together during the festive season. The daughter, following in her mum's footsteps – making mithai, designing rangoli, decked in her best festive gear. And the grandma – passing down tradition, from one woman to another. Time and again, ad after ad, we have seen festivities to be the responsibility of the ever-feeling, forever-emotional mother. 

Listen to me. I am a woman, and I enjoy the festivities just as much as you do. What I don’t enjoy is

• An ad telling me how to feel. Maybe I’m not emotional about my family not being under one roof this Durga Pujo. Maybe, just maybe, this is my time to put on my best saree and go pandal hopping. Your mileage may vary, but it’s time we move away from the stereotypical Indian family and show families which are REAL. Families which enjoy fondness in distance. Families which don’t ‘fail’ on a report card because they aren’t conventional. And mothers who are not squeezed for emotional objectification each time a festival comes around. 

• Always showing me inside the home! Every other festive ad in-home has a woman orchestrating the kitchen activity, the rangoli, the lights. She rushes her husband to get ready, her diabetic in-law gets a scolding for sneaking a gulab jamun! An ear gets pulled, a tear is shed. And here I am, watching this ad, stuck in traffic, on the way home, to my cats. Families are diverse. Woman in families – even more so. We are single, we are complicated, we are happy, we are angry – show us as we are. Take me out – to the office, on the streets, to a house party, maybe even a relative’s place. We aren’t all Mary Poppins. 

• Depicting me as literal gold digger: Keep your diamonds. Keep your gold sets. Only if joy was so cheap. Don’t get me wrong, gifts are great. But women are portrayed as these gold-set-hungry Tasmanian devils who wait all year for Diwali just for that magic box to open. Some of us can buy our own, others shouldn’t have to wait all year like our husbands are Santa Claus. Don’t infantilise us. We don’t want to jump up and down like little babies because you got us something shiny. Thank you. But tell a deeper story about us. On one hand you tell us we’re complex. On another, you expect us to go, ‘ooooh, shiny!’ 

• Me, as a background character: I am going to buy the crockery. The cutlery. The Masala. Why is Amitabh Bacchan posing with it? Give me more power in my own narrative. This is the ‘ME’ show. The home you’re celebrating in? I’m the maker of it. Celebrate me. Yes, the home loan ads are catered to you, but I make this house a home. 

• Don’t Mess with my Anatomy: I may be fierce like Ma Durga but don’t give me multiple hands. I know you mean well. But apart from it being a done-to-death creative, it reeks of cluelessness. You know we don’t have a choice right? To come back home from office after the paid labour and do the unpaid labour? As much as we want to. On that note, (and I had read this somewhere), gift your wife a nanny or a housekeeper. She could do without diamonds. 

What I want to see? 

Women as problem solvers. Women as rational, balanced people. As members of the family – not as the glue that holds them together. Back to the initial point I made. The emotional objectification of women – let’s not show a depiction of women where their emotions render them disabled. Devoid of their own personality. Of their own quirks. Of their girlhood. Of their style – of their choices. Dishes they love to eat, customs they enjoyed as children. 

This festive season don’t view us as just mothers, sisters, daughters, wives.

Show us as we are. 

Imperfect. Silly. Cute. Funny. Emotional, of course. 

But just emotional? Naah. We’re so much more. 

This article is penned by Adyasha Roy Tomar, Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup

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