Various propaganda has been used over the years to define gender roles in

society.
How is gender portrayed in advertisements?
Representations of gender in advertisements provide powerful models of behavior to
emulate or react against. Masculine images typically convey power, strength, virility,
athleticism, and competitiveness whereas feminine images show beauty, submissiveness,
nurturance, and cooperation.
- https://muse.jhu.edu/article/202979/

For example, do not assume that all women are interested in buying heels, or all men are
sports-crazy. These are examples of stereotyping groups of people that can lead to
disastrous results in advertising and marketing.
- https://www.liveabout.com/dangers-of-stereotypes-in-advertising-and-marketing-
3515500

Up to 6 million women joined the workforce between 1942 and 1945. This amazing number
was a direct effect of the massive war campaign. The campaign depicted women as loyal
supporters of the “Boys” (the boyz 😎😎) in the military by conserving resources, keeping
quiet, and taking jobs with new skills. At the time of WWII most women, particularly married
women, stayed at home taking care of their home and children. The gender roles of the time
were divided between private and public spaces. Most women controlled and managed the
private space, while men easily navigated the public space.
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2016.00016/full

For example, Imperial Blue has an advertisement titled Men Will Be Men. This advertisement
was posted on the official account of Imperial Blue Super Hits Music CDs and showcases a
female doctor checking the pulse and other parameters of a male patient lying unconscious
on a hospital bed. A couple is seen seated near the patient, and the man is shown to be
gawking at the doctor. The heartbeat of the patient rises when the doctor holds the patient’s
hand. The end message is that whether unconscious or visiting severely ill kin, men will
always ogle at women.
The woman is sexualized and the advertisement is made to appear as if the woman is
enjoying being stared at. The derogatory behavior of the men in the advertisement is not
penalized but celebrated as something which is natural to all men. To an impressionable
person watching this ad, it may appear that it is okay to stare at any woman with desire,
because like the doctor, the woman will also enjoy it. The fact that it is a breach of personal
space, or blatant objectification is not even vaguely touched upon.

Stay Fit, Feel Young with Dabur Honey is yet another advertisement telecasted by Dabur
India which depicts a man adjusting the mangalsutra (nuptial neck piece) of his wife to make
it more visible. The advertisement caters to the central idea that married women are the
property of their husbands and hence, it becomes important for the man to mark his property
by making the mangalsutra visible (to other men). (downloaded vid; show ma’am asap)

Fortune Oil Ad which promotes Fortune refined cotton seed oil reiterates problematic gender
roles. It implies that it is a woman’s duty to cook delicious food for her husband, and the
target audience of this advertisement is housewives. In the advertisement, a housewife is
shown using cooking oil to make amazing food for her police officer husband. While he
enjoys the food at the office, the woman is seen as pleased having made food that her
husband loved.
These advertisements cater to the notion that it is the woman’s job and her only purpose in
life to cook great food for her husband, and that her efficiency as a partner lies in her
proficiency in cooking. Women are always posited as caregivers and are shown as if the
only thing that they should be concerned about is catering to their husband’s needs and
wishes.

The Harpic washroom cleaning agent advertisement featuring Akshay Kumar is a very
popular ad that depicts Akshay Kumar introducing a new washroom cleaner to a bunch of
women. Not one man is seen in the advertisement except Akshay Kumar who appears as a
seller of the product on behalf of the Harpic team.
The actor is seen selling the product to the consumer pool that mainly comprises women,
who are depicted as proud of having cleaned their washrooms to the best of their
capabilities. The advertisement also advocates that a woman who is happy with her
washroom prior to finding out about Harpic is naïve to believe so because she doesn’t know
of products in the market that can even do a better job.
- https://feminisminindia.com/2021/11/18/stereotypes-in-advertisements-normalising-
gender-roles-by-pandering-to-popular-morality/

why does gulping down a tall mug of beer, slamming it on the table, and burping loudly
radiates a conventional ‘masculine’ energy? And why does a softer, non-alcoholic drink
always have a woman sensuously cradling a bottle and the beverage dripping down their
body? In the infamous advertisement for Slice, Katrina Kaif is shown sensuously caressing a
bottle of mango drink; with the drink dripping down her lips as she swings in scantily-clad
clothes with whispers of music echoing all around her. In the later versions of the ad, the
word ‘Aamsutra’ became synonymous with the drink, a play on the word ‘Kamasutra’,
making a sexual connection to the drink.
We subconsciously associate adventure, speed, danger, and adrenaline rushes with
masculinity, and naturally, when used in an advertisement for a beverage, it becomes a
beverage for ‘men’.
offensive taglines that were not sensitive to the issue of sexual assault, especially the Bud
Light campaign, ‘Up for Whatever’ whose slogan was ‘The perfect beer for removing “No”
from your vocabulary for the night.’ The campaign was heavily criticized.
- https://feminisminindia.com/2020/12/31/advertising-cold-drink-brands-sexist/

It’s dated, to be sure. But Vidal’s satirical novel was one of the first mainstream books to
present a transgender character and is cited as being the first novel to depict a clinical sex
change. For good or ill, it throws traditional notions of gender (and lots of other traditional
notions) out the window. It’s also worth noting that while Vidal himself was gay, he refused to
identify as such, insisting that “gay” was an action, not an identity. “I don’t believe in these
exclusive terms,” he said. Considering that the refusal of external labels for one’s own
personal sexuality is only now beginning to be widely understood, Vidal was way ahead of
his time.

In this recent buzzy dystopian novel, Alderman explores what might happen if all young girls
suddenly woke up with the power to hurt men—hurt them badly, and at a touch. It reminds
me of that famous Margaret Atwood line (somewhat reorganized for pithiness along the
way): “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill
them.” So what if the roles were reversed? Everything wouldn’t be fixed, as it turns out. - The
Power
- https://lithub.com/15-novels-that-subvert-traditional-gender-roles/
Paintings and plays from the middle ages
Andrew Tate’s tweets (cutouts)
Mothers are all-rounders, superhumans, multitaskers, etc.