Gender and advertisements: The rhetoric of globalisation

This article is about advertisements and gender images in the English print media in India, and rests on the assumption that the shift in the Indian state's economic policy in favour of globalisation has accompanied a shift in public discourse as evidenced in the media. Although some images of Indian women are traditional (the homemaker and mother), many are new (the globe trotting corporate leader), and suggest a break with earlier models. Male models are far more conspicuous in the adverts today, and it is argued that liberalisation has heralded new notions for malehood that include traditional and newer notions of power and success. There is a definite effort to incorporate very strong notions of individual achievment, pleasure, and identity for both men and women. The stress on success and a glamorous lifestyle has effectively displaced the larger section of Indian men and women from public discourse.