By Shefali Mehta
Production of goods to be sold in market creates a very important area of advertising where the aim is to appeal to the potential buyers and coax them into buying a certain product. Capitalism in theory should be a huge equalizer. The very nature of the economic model should strip the people participating as workers of their national, religious, caste, sexual and other identities and consider them as the same homogenous group, if differentiated then only on the basis of merit. But capitalism survives not just through production and workers but also through buyers. The very workers, in their leisure hours, support capitalism by acting as consumers. What becomes interesting is how selling exploits stereotypes to enter popular consciousness.
Not much needs to be said about portrayal of women. However, in this regard, Michele Barrett considers the question whether an advertisement targeted towards independent salaried women would work if it shows male nudity to attract them. She calls it unlikely. The reason is that representations take from what is already known about the society the real relations and would work only if it bears connection to historical reality. Thus a mere reversal of accepted imagery cannot succeed.
But then in 2007 came the song Dar-e-disco and male body too became a commodity that would sell (not to forget Ranbir Kapoors towel dance in Saawariya). The glistening body of SRK created a kind of craze for six-pack abs which was defeated only by Aamir Khans eight-pack abs. Not that male body was not presented nude on screen before this, but now something new had happened. It became a tradition and a spectacle was created of the male body too; in plain words, the male body was commodified. This could be seen as a break from the long tradition of item numbers by women dancers, continuing now parallel to male onscreen nudity. The balance is still tilted towards women being objects for the most part, but an industry devoted to male grooming sees a push.
The conclusion of Barretts argument is relevant as now with improvement in living conditions of women and more number of women getting mentally and sexually liberated, it does not sound so outrageous that male nudity or machismo would be used to promote a product targeted towards women. The result is an image of body, both female and male, that ordinary people compare themselves to. The definition of beauty comes from here. The unreal image becomes naturalized.
This kind of packaging is restricted not just to body images, but extends to abstract things like relationships. So how to sell, say an apartment. The advertisement will feature a son buying his aged mother an apartment as a gift in return of her contribution in his education that got him a high-salaried job. Or, a good husband takes his wife to a certain brand shop for bags. Advertisements of this sort rely less on the quality of the product than the emotional (/ideological) appeal that gives shape to the template that seems to define a proper mother-son and husband-wife relationship. A good example would be the businesses thriving on Fathers and Mothers Day. Then there are images of ideal weddings, glutted with opulence, images of fashionable attire, images of leisure hours for women bound by domesticity, images of expression of love, and so on.
Thus, leaping forth from our very own cultural system, these images coagulate spontaneity. Moreover, if after female bodies, male bodies are also commodified for titillation of women, it is no victory for the feminist cause. It is the basic principle that sustains capitalism, that of reducing everything to marketable things. Culture evolves with time, but under a capitalist regime, we need a critical view of the emerging trends.
Shefali is a sceptic by nature, with a critical eye on culture, ideologies and evolving trends of societies. A student of English Literature at Delhi University, she is particularly interested in the lives and history of people living in the Indian subcontinent and contemporary issues like terrorism, exile, human rights and global capitalism. Mostly interested in theory, she also likes to explore regional cinema. Contact her at shefali.tie@gmail.com