Perception of the Young Adults towards the Portrayal of Women in Contemporary Indian Television Advertisements

MADHUSMITA DAS & SANGEETA SHARMA
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, India

Abstract
The purpose of this article was to examine the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements and the perception difference among them on the basis of their gender. 125 young adults comprising of 63 males and 62 females were selected randomly as the sample for the study. Primary data was collected through the survey method with the help of structured questionnaire. The study explored that majority of the respondents agreed that women in Indian TV advertisements are mostly depicted as young and beautiful, and rarely shown enjoying equal status with men and as professionals. They were not feeling much uncomfortable towards the sexual portrayal of women in advertisements. The study further revealed that gender has a great influence on the perception of the audience regarding the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements. Female in comparison to male were found to be more critical about the portrayal of women in Indian TV advertisements.

Keywords: TV advertisements, portrayal of women, perception, young adult, gender

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Dr. Madhusmita Das recently finished her Ph.D from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan. Her research interest includes advertisements and gender issues.
Prof. Sangeeta Sharma is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani. Apart from advertising, her areas of interest include technical communication, linguistics, and business communication.