Breaking Gender Biases Is A Journey

Rajdeepak Das Mar 12, 2024

Women have reached the moon, as we all witnessed with the successful Chandrayaan mission. But unfortunately, we are still talking about how they dress and how they look!

While there has been a significant increase in awareness surrounding the portrayal and stereotyping of women in advertising and other creative mediums, it still prompts the question: to what extent has this heightened awareness translated into tangible change, particularly within the realm of advertising?

As creatives, we have made progress in reshaping the narrative to create gender-conscious, non-discriminatory communication. We have seen how, over the years, women on screen have become increasingly powerful, independent, and positive. That said, we still have a long way to go before we do away with gender biases. These biases are more deep-rooted and granular than what meets the eye. Breaking these biases is more of a journey than a one-size-fits-all solution.

This change must stem from the top—from creating gender-conscious briefs, building inclusive insights, and creating visually powerful narratives that represent and reflect modern-day women.

Portrayal of Women

The first and most important key to this is inclusivity and diversity; a fair and accurate portrayal in all aspects is pivotal. Do away with gender tropes and stereotypes. Include body-positive imagery and balance representation across socio-economic classes and ages. A great example is our 'KeepGirlsInSchool—Missing Chapter' campaign for Whisper.

The biggest lesson has been to represent the girls correctly. From casting realistically to establishing the appropriate context and backdrop to carefully selecting the setting for each of our films, we spent hours with the brand team to discuss the nuances.

Another great example is the 'Sit Improper' campaign for Whisper, defying the myth that women have to behave and sit properly. Young women are often told to sit properly, dress, and talk in a particular manner—to make them fit into the social definition of being graceful and ladylike. Our campaign empowered women to sit comfortably, even if it meant ‘Sit Improper’.

Creating strong visual narratives redefines what success looks like for women. Often, it is assumed what a successful woman should look like, from wearing certain clothes to juggling work and home and being smarter than the men in the room. Much of this contributes to generating an opposite perception of what an ideal woman should resemble, putting undue pressure on women to conform to a reverse stereotype.

Duties As Creatives

As creatives, we have to ask ourselves when carving a female character: what are the parameters to keep in mind? Is there a gap between what we portray and what should be portrayed? A visual speaks a thousand words, and realistically, success will look different for different people. Are we able to portray that on screen?

And the often misconstrued gender bias in representing male vs. female As creatives, we must push the envelope and give women space in conversations that are traditionally more male-dominated, e.g., life insurance, automobiles, banking and finance, sports, etc. This is not true for most households today, and continuing to misrepresent women in these conversations undermines their authority and decision-making abilities. When viewed from the perspective of the brand, you also overlook a significant portion of the audience that possesses the resources to engage.

We had done a fabulous campaign with CarDekho, ‘Backoff’, where we addressed the stereotypes about women being bad drivers. And the most common misconception is that women are bad at reversing. To challenge this misconception, we got women drivers to reverse park with precision and in perfect synchrony. We partnered with celebrated musician Sneha Khanwalkar to create audio loops. This was followed by the reverse beepers of cars being reprogrammed to play these loops when the cars reversed. Our female drivers then reversed in sync and created music. Everything was recorded live, and a track was created. The music video went live on Women’s Day, garnering over 8 million views across social media.

When we talk about breaking gender biases, we must take into account both genders. Frequently, in crafting a specific persona for the ‘woman’, we inadvertently depict those surrounding her in a negative or less favourable light. The scales will balance when we create fair and progressive narratives for men as well. For a woman to thrive, she also needs a support system that does not set her up for failure. Our campaign for Pampers, 'It Takes 2' was a reflection of this. The campaign refocused the spotlight on the imbalance in parenting in India and reiterated the value and positive impact of equal parenting, encouraging new dads to be more involved in child care. We created a heartwarming film that takes viewers on an emotional journey seen through the lens of two generations, where an ailing father talks to his son, who is about to embark on the journey of fatherhood himself, about the importance of being there for his new-born and the regret he harbours for missing out on his childhood moments.

I truly believe that ‘the only way to change the future is to do it ourselves’. The change will happen when we have real, open conversations between brand partners and our teams about what we are communicating. Ensuring equal representation in that conversation so that inherent biases can be addressed. And most importantly, it involves making bold and deliberate choices to confront uncomfortable conversations that have been perpetuated through generations due to gender bias.