Boobs before breakfast

This Saturday started off like any other day. My alarm clock dutifully rang at 9am, half awake I stumbled out of bed grabbing the newspaper, waiting on my coffee. As I opened the front page and scanned through the staggering manner in which my country was depicted in the headlines my eyes were drawn to an ad for a shirt. But dear reader, do not be fooled, this was no ordinary shirt.

So here I am sitting in the capital of a conservative country and even before I have had a sip of my morning coffee what am I confronted with on the front page? A semi-naked woman exposed with her breast to the reader, hands held suggestively between her legs and an exasperated look on her face. Forgive me, but is an invitation for coitus (apologize for this graphic description, but it’s the truth) the best way to sell a shirt? Undoubtedly, the ad men succeeded in their task by grabbing my attention.  Now the obvious question remains, is SEX the only tool of persuasion available to draw interest to a product's merits? Such an approach may be successful with many young men between the ages of 18-35 (their target demographic) but what is the impact of such an advertising campaign on other readers? Ad men continue to use sexual imagery in advertising as a means of persuading the reader to a product's virtues. Marketers continue to use more sex in advertising for a greater range of products.  The range of merchandise that are traditionally associated with sex appeals are usually designer clothing, alcohol and fragrances which appear to be featuring sexual imagery that is increasingly explicit.

So I'm obviously concerned at what thoughts run through a 13-year old boy's mind when affronted with such graphic ads let alone the reactive thoughts of a 50-year old woman. Leaving those questions open as I triage through my daily dose of so-called 'news', what becomes clear is that the production of our newspapers has become highly dependent on funding generated by advertisements of a sexual nature. Of course one could have a fertile discussion about whether this is good or bad for the future of journalism but my question remains: Is it NEWS? And should it have any place in our newspapers?
   

Marshall Mcluhan once said “All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values". How true. In a country where conversations operate under the maxim 'Though Shalt Not Discuss Sex in Public' (your guess is as good as any, looking our rising population it surely is not increasing because of any other reason) how can it be deemed acceptable to have semi-naked women on the front page of national daily newspaper? In addition, as a reader I feel genuinely cheated as my newspaper was purchased in order to read the read the latest news and keep myself well-informed. Instead, I am given page after page of sexually explicit advertising. I am a grown man, such things can be purchased alternatively through Playboy.

I discussed my concerns with , a marketing expert ( who wants to remain anonymous as he represents on of the biggest marketing companies on the globe ) who explained that "Sex is a taboo theme in India, the more one uses it the more people would like to sneak a peek, more interest in the product/brand. The more shocking it is, people will talk about it more, be interested and share it. That is exactly what makes an ad campaign successful." So what happens to our society? Every day from the time we wake up till we go to bed, we are bombarded with advertisements on a variety of different platforms be it newspapers, TV, radio, street hoardings with ads which are sexual in nature. But our social systems are still very closed to these topics with the vast majority of us never having seen our parents kiss and most of us hesitating to demonstrate even the slightest bit of PDA in front of them.

The media conveys camouflaged messages about what is appropriate in society. This message when examined through the lens of gender suggests men to be proactive, aggressive as compared to women (who are objectified as sexual toys for men). The constant reminder of this ‘Barbie Doll' , ‘He – Man' divide with photoshoped images cannot merely be classified as an innocent pastime as it leads to the cultivation of unrealistic aspirations. (For further proof do watch Killing Us Softly ).

The media no longer finds itself on the periphery of society, today it finds itself in the midst of its own cultural revolution. A constant in our lives, and hence having a major effect on how we act and react to daily life situations. Female sexuality is used to sell products (as men usually control the wealth), be it through music videos, advertisements, songs, movies or newspapers. The constant promotion of men as sexual aggressors on women, as sex objects, leads to the normalization and acceptance of violence as a common practice. And in reality it's not! (For further proof do watch Dreamworlds  )

Now begs the obvious question, is this contradiction the reason for so many sex crimes? Does the constant presence of sexual content in our day to day life lead to the creation of an augmented reality? 

Critics will say, but people are smart, they can choose! I agree, that they can. On the one hand we have the best psychologists advising advertising firms on how best to maximize their exposure (and ad revenue) to their key market demographics for their products. On the other hand, individuals are unaware of these tactics, believing what they see on television, hear on the radio and read in the newspaper. And sadly once these readers become consumers, use a product and come to the realization that it has in fact not changed their lives as promised (tragically AXE deodorant will not make girls jump into bed with you: tried and tested) they will cease using it. But what is the collateral damage of this process? Is it acceptable that people get hurt in the process of selling perfume? 

The owners of these big advertising firms (mostly men let's be honest) only care about the potential generated revenue stream of a product rather than any potential effects of the violent sexual nature of their ad campaigns. As a result of losing money by executing alternative ad campaigns that have failed they have returned to the repetitive ad campaigns we know all too well where 'sex is best'.

Let me end of a final note. Dear Advertiser, you want to sell me a pink Oxford shirt with buttons? Try appealing to me through issues other than sex which interest me such as science, sports, social welfare or society. I am an evolved man who can handle being appealed to on a variety of different platforms rather than just sex. Use your creativity, there are other aspects of life which are as important as sex. Tell me about the thread count used in making my desired pink shirt, the man who made it, which social events I can wear it to (cricket perhaps?) or how many employees this company employs in India. There you go, I've done your job. If I can come up with 4 ideas in 4 minutes I am sure the geniuses working in your offices can do a lot more. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Anti-social social workers: whose interests are we really serving ?

The question is a subtle and nuanced one. I have been working in the social change sector for the last three years. It started out quite simply; we would sweat it out in rural villages talking to women of all age groups about their day-to-day lives and gathering valuable field data about the obstacles they faced. The hours were long and the work conditions were often gruelling. Nonetheless, I found the whole experience riveting. These early experiences engaging directly with the women whose issues I fight for on a daily basis not only altered the way in which I see myself, but also how I understand the women around me. I had found my cause.

Consequently, as I discovered more about the amazing work so many of my peers were committing themselves to, I knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to the same cause. Unsatisfied with simply standing by the side lines while law after law, case after case against women went unnoticed I wanted to learn, may be even chip in an idea or two. It’s a true reflection of the social change sector, that despite my lack of formal experience in the area, my ideas and I were welcomed into the team with open arms (if only time stood still).

The more knowledgeable I became, the harder I worked. The more I worked the more my network began to expand to include VIPs. I was interacting with the “names which matter”, The Titans of the social change sector in India as I like to refer to them. These are the women and men who call the shots, organize the big rallies, are called on by the media to comment and who the media in turn listen to. I won’t lie it was an honor just to be in their company. Forgive me for what I am about to say, but it felt like being called up from the minor leagues to play alongside Michael Jordan. At times, sitting at the same round table as The Titans, who have dedicated their lives to the cause, I had to pinch myself to believe that I was actually invite to sit there and contribute (again if only time could stand still).

Undoubtedly, I was just as naïve as the people who believe Rajnikanth is a fictional character. Lost in the romance of activism (I still am), it took around ten meetings before I came to the realization that in the desperate race to prove their own organization was worthier than the others, each of the amazing Titans had somehow forgotten about the “cause”. Spending their days sitting in air-conditioned conference halls, delivering presentations with the aide of management speak with big words to explain basic problems they had all but abandoned the social realities on the ground. They had lost touch with the cause that initially led them to the fight for equal rights.

In my experience, there are only two variables, which will determine the likely success of such meetings/ conferences/ workshops or blue-sky thinking seminars: the venue and the goody bags. So what do you do? You have no choice but to meet in the finest hotels where upon arrival at the registration desk you are greeted with an Italian leather laptop bag containing a notepad made out of recycled paper (an informal rule of the trade is that at least one item in every goody bag has to be eco-friendly), a custom pen with the logo of the host organization (never ever forget the logo, your branding is key). You’ll struggle through the morning speakers and stare at your watch every 20 mins. Once lunch finally arrives, you are treated to an exotic buffet selection, which you’ll wash down at the open bar.  You’ll notice that the single malts are particularly popular. So the careful balance begins. Drink in one hand, platter of continental foods in the other, you’ll sit and discuss how to make India a better place.

What happens next? The scripted dialogue follows and I start to feel like I’m judging an episode of India’s Next Best NGO. Sir, you should hear about the amazing work MY organization does. WE are here to guide you, because WE have been blessed to be the leaders in this field. Got the gist? Yes, in a room full of social workers the only discussions taking place revolve around the merits of each of their organizations vis-à-vis the others who are utterly and completely useless/wrong/fake and should be wiped off the NGO map.  Why? Because we’re the best. To sum it up, it would appear that hosting a pow wow on women in the right venue, with the best goody bags and the most delicious lunch is leading its participants to act in a way that is devoid of any connection to the women in the field, to the struggles they face and the goals they initially set for themselves to make this world a better place. Somewhere along the way, we lost touch with our cause.

We can boast of a country with 1.21 billion people, the majority of which live below the poverty line, are chronically malnourished and wake up every day with the simple goal of surviving. I believe that in order to effect real sustainable change we need to be more inclusive and less skilled in our collecting of goody bags. I see the choice as a simple one, we can choose to distract ourselves with petty discussions stripping each other’s organizations of meaning or we can rally under a single umbrella. We can choose to strengthen and contribute to each other’s efforts under a new mandate for social change and become The Social Heavyweights that our country needs. I for one plan on hanging up my free Italian laptop bag. Will you join me?