1 month ago| article

Dr AL Sharada, director, Population First, reviews a selection of ads from last week
Dec 03, 2021 02:30:00 AM | Article | Dr AL Sharada Share -
The needs and expectations from the government vary across various stakeholders across the country. The ad captures varying sentiments. It features girls and women across various age groups. Though the focus is on a male anchor of the programme, the ad also presents two confident and successful female anchors.
Gender Sensitivity Score (GSS): 3.5/5
A report in The Times of India on 29 Aug 2021, analyses the number of male and female principals of schools and says: "Of the 363 posts advertised, 208 were meant for men and 155 for women. If that gender disparity seemed odd, then of the 196 principals in 2020-21, 120 were male and 76 female".
In many professions and organisations, we find that women do not move up the career ladder as fast as men for various reasons. While teaching is considered suitable for women because it syncs with the needs of their children, the administrative position of principal with authority, control and power is often occupied by men and not women.
If the creative team had chosen to feature a female celebrity as the principal it would have given more women inspiration to aspire to become principals. Also, featuring men and not women as teachers would have broken the stereotype of women as teachers.
GSS: 2.5/5
The ad talks about glowing skin and supports an existing beauty norm. It shows Yami Gautam in a number of scenarios and asks what would happen if the key things in life disappeared, like the pandit during the pheras and conveys the message that glowing skin is key to a woman's beauty. While the ad shows the woman protagonist as a confident woman the ad still builds on the insecurity of losing the glow.
GSS: 2.75/5
It is a very male-centric ad. Is it because it is about big grand houses, which are often owned by men?
GSS: 2.25/5
The ad focuses on people trying to get the maximum out of the situation and projects Goibibo as giving the best deals. However, both the films project men as the ones planning family travels. Since there were two films, one could could have featured a woman!
GSS: 2.75/5