There is a power shift in the portrayal of couples in brand marketing.
By Sunaina Kumar
Open Magazine, 10 November 2014
Of all media, advertising most likes to view men and women, especially women, as stock characters. The woman is usually circumscribed to the kitchen or bedroom—as the nitpicky housewife, the sacrificial mother, or the sexpot. It’s old hat to discuss advertising stereotypes. But, apart from selling products, sometimes advertising shows us the way we lead our lives, or the way we ought to. A series of commercials on television seem to be changing the contours of the most frequently used trope in advertising, that of the married couple.
Link to the article: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/second-sex-hang-on
Leisure, Autonomy and the New Woman in India
von Abigail McGowan
Den kompletten Essay finden Sie unter:
http://www.tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/essay/95/index.html
In ihrem Essay untersucht McGowan das alltägliche Leben und die eintretenden Veränderungen in anhand der durchschnittlichen Mittelklassefrau im spätkolonialen Indien. Dabei zeigt sie anhand von Postern und Kalender den Wandel der im Haushalt in dieser Zeit stattgefunden haben (Techniken, Modernität, Entspannung, Rollenverständnis).
“ It is in that promise of sanctuary for women that visual culture sources suggest a different answer to the appeal of home reform as compared to what is offered in written sources. Texts like The Bride’s Mirror emphasize the importance of womanly success in the home for others: Asghari’s achievements are her husband’s job, her father-in-law’s retirement, and her sister-in-law’s marriage. We never glimpse her savoring a cup of tea on her own or amusing herself at the sitar; instead she is always busily securing the comforts of others. Such an emphasis reflects, in part, the uncertain reception late nineteenth century reform efforts met among men, who worried that change would disrupt their comfort and power in the home. For all that The Bride’s Mirror had to convince women of the need for change, it also set out to assure men that change would benefit them as well. By the mid-twentieth century, reform might still be controversial, but it had won wider acceptance. Thus, in mid-century calendar art, women reap the fruits of proper home management: when everything is done right, and the home is run on modern lines, women get to relax and enjoy themselves. To women like Lilabai Patwardhan struggling to manage the competing demands of house cleaning, child care, and husbandly instruction, such a vision would provide a compelling incentive to modernize the home.“