Ads that 'stereotype' women may be banned

A recent article in TOI claims that there may soon be a move to ban ads that stereotype a woman and her role in society.

" Women in "stereotypical" roles like playing the ideal homemaker or advertisements that reinforce ideas of skin fairness to achieve success could be a thing of the past, if the National Commission for Women (NCW) has its way. "


Sure, great move and all. But this is just going to be so damned subjective. Now will it be illegal to show a woman recommending a washing machine? Or a woman discussing problems of a home maker? If most of India lives like that, I wonder if showcasing the 'new woman' too much would amount to gross misrepresentation.

I believe there was a study (done long ago) in the US that showed that people of colour were under represented on television while they constitute a good 30% in real life America.

Is there also a danger in over-representing the jet setting woman and alienating the society's concern with the woman who is still struggling with her middle class home maker values?

The opinion on each TVC will be subjective. And there's no saying where this will stop. While I disagree with the Fair & Lovely ads, I still don't think NCW has got it right. We can't project a world too far from reality... or we might end up screwing reality itself.