AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISEMENTS BASED ON GENDER CONTENTS

Advertisement is a powerful modern tool to condition behaviour and responses in a society. It is one such field where subtle forms of gender discrimination are portrayed and unconsciously people’s attitudes are conditioned by what they observe as they usually believe it to be true. Based on popular modern day commercial advertisements from 2013 to 2018, the present paper makes an honest attempt to classify them into gender preferences based on messages projected. It is observed that almost all of the advertisements chosen have an undercurrent meaning which is targeting the subconscious mind of the audience. The breadwinner-homemaker model, the dominant irresistible masculinity, the obediently loving womanhood and the gender role stereotyping is time and again depicted in one form or the other through the advertisements, thereby, concretising social perceptions regarding gender roles. Watching the advertisements repeatedly influences the behaviour and rational thought pattern of the observer, thereby leading to behavioural modification or change.