BANGALORE: “Women perform 66 per cent of the world’s work, produce 50 per cent of the food, but earn 10 per cent of the income and own 1 per cent of the property” Tweeted super star Amitabh Bachchan sometime back. Most of the media attempt to portray men and women as equal decision makers — whether it’s making an investment plan or buying a new car. However, a closer look at the commercial media and one can see that the stereotypes are yet to fade out in a patriarchal society. Our society still expects men and women to do their specific tasks. Yes, we see women working in every possible field today without much restriction, but at the same time she is also expected to come back home, cook dinner, help her children finish their homework and clear up the mess in the house.Don’t believe it? Then look closely at advertisements targeted at so-called women-centric products, in other words all products associated with the kitchen. Even in the advertisements that show men cooking, only goes on to reveal that the target product is aimed at women who strive to keep the men’s aprons white. The idea here is actually very simple. Why do the women of the house “have to” ensure that dinner is prepared and the laundry is done every day while the man can make do with a bottle of chilled beer and a match (which does not always have to be live)? In the mainstream media, there are shows or advertisements that show a woman enjoying her day of shopping, a good movie after a hard day at work and wants to come home to a set table with good food without having to bother about cleaning up the dishes. Unfortunately, this tends to happen only around Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. “My mother served herself only after my father finished his meal,” says fashion designer Rhea Wadhwani. “She never got to wear what she liked because she lived with her in-laws all her married life.” Rhea, married with three children wonders, “Why so many restrictions on women.”“This irrational thinking (that women stay at home and do work) is seen in every household and has nothing to do with what background you belong to,” says Kalyani Joshi, a sociologist. When asked about the media and its focus on women of all sections of the society, she said, “It’s a perception that people have been brought up with (women in the kitchen, men in the office) and they are lazy to change it even if it is in their own house,” she added.“My parents always told me that I could choose my career path and join any college I wanted too after being inspired by education plans and career opportunities they came across on TV and in the papers,” says Richa Dubey, an MNC employee. “But when it actually came to me leaving my home to take up a job, they were very reluctant.”The message conveyed in the media, over the years, has taken a subtle turn — the Behenji is no longer in a saree but are power women — but women nevertheless.
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