Brands Breaking Stereotypes
Nine Yards Communications Consultancy
We change and create user behavior through design thinking, story telling and digital interventions.
In today’s #SheMatters, let’s try and understand why brands still employ gender-based stereotypes to relate to their women consumers. Time and again, we see brands across categories personify women sitting on the edge of a promising, new narrative. Gently, almost hesitantly pretending to nudge an old stereotype out of the way. Only to grasp a new stereotype to take its place. It almost feels like our world won’t allow a woman to take the middle ground on anything. Women must do it all – They must be the quintessential mother who not only wakes up at dawn to cook the most nutritious breakfast for her child, but now the hybrid version also takes on the role of the athletic parent who becomes her child’s running mate and the most evolved stereotype features her moving mountains in her career, all this looking fresh as a daisy.?
How much is ‘too much’?
Women showcased in Indian advertising inch gingerly towards newer, more progressive identities – Discovering selfcare, but not too much, as they dare not appear selfish. Owning their careers, but not too much because they still own their responsibilities towards their home and kids. Speaking their mind…but not too much because they can’t appear rebellious or aggressive. Challenging fashion norms, but not too much because they can’t appear to disconnect from their culture. So on and so forth. And on the edge we will stay, the weight of this push and pull towards old and new concepts pinning us down. Why don’t brands tell this tale of contradictions? Why aren’t they brave enough to challenge stereotypes fully? Is it a lack of female representation on the decision-making table? Or is it just playing safe with the age-old story that speaks to the lowest common denominator? Most importantly, is it even in the purview of brands to champion progress beyond perhaps what society at large has progressed? And what is progress really? How do we measure progress in a country that identifies as both India and Bharat at the same time?
?Today’s Indian Woman
To dig deeper, let’s understand what it means to be a woman in today’s India. Most women are juggling more roles in their real and reel life than the highest paid movie stars of our generation. It’s exciting, exhausting, soul satisfying and all sorts of awesome and gruesome at the same time. Thanks to social media and OTT, lines between small towns and urban centres are slowly blurring. The total number of girls enrolled in primary school, officially surpassed the number of boys a decade ago, leading to a tangible shift in future earning patterns and a hopeful shift in the power dynamic. Purchase decisions even in male dominated categories like finance, real estate and automobiles are slowly tilting towards women. Currently India has the highest number of single women in its history. A whopping 39% more than the previous decade. And yet, society struggles to accept women who choose one role over another. It’s not like women have the liberty to guiltlessly focus on their careers over their domestic and child rearing duties. The most liberal families still expect their daughters to manage their homes with the elegance of the Stepford Wives. It doesn’t matter that a lot of women today, are juggling personal aspirations and careers of the Wallstreet Wolves.
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?The Winds of Change
But slowly and surely, the winds are changing. And men are in fact allies, helping bring about this change. The lockdown saw many men getting their hands dirty and chipping in with the housework. Today we have many more conscious and involved fathers than we ever have. It isn’t uncommon to see a man cook up a storm even in a small-town kitchen. Can they do more…? Of course, they can. In their own mono-tasking way, men can certainly take on more housework and help women find more balance in their roles and responsibilities. But Society and its expectations aren’t set just by men. Women have an equal part to play in the patriarchy. Women are conditioned to believe that only women can do justice to the task at hand. This is not true just for the older generation of mothers. But rather, the current generation as well – the seemingly modern and openminded generation of women who dare to dream big and want it all. The generation who feels the need to prove to society and themselves that they can shine outside their homes. But they forget to give themselves the permission to dim that shine just a little bit at home. While managing the lioness’s share of domestic and child rearing duties, they also run a mad race to shine professionally, refusing to compromise anywhere. And this is pretty much the crux of the issue. Women need to shed the pressure of being perfect in every sphere of their lives. And seeing this not only reflected but amplified in the stories they see all around them, only adds to that pressure.
?How do brands make more authentic connections with women?
In this scenario, what kind of brand will resonate best with its women audiences? A brand that speaks to women in a way that propagates this glorification of the ‘perfect woman’ in every role? Or a brand that understands and celebrates her evolution? We need brands that can bravely hold her hand through the changing trends and tides, brands who empathize and encourage her to break the mould and find her own voice. Let’s normalize a world where a woman can put herself first without feeling selfish. Let’s elevate role models in popular culture who embrace their vulnerabilities and accept their flaws. Let’s make it mainstream culture to celebrate women who are choosing to break traditional stereotypes without embracing new progressive ones.
?It would certainly be unconventional for a brand to stray from the middle ground and take a stand, by portraying progressive women with all their insecurities, anxieties and flaws. But with or without the influence of advertising, today’s Indian woman is slowly and steadily coming into her own. Whether brands see it or not. The ones that do, are the ones who will walk with her into a brighter India.
-An expression for #SheMatters by Heetal Dattani