By Our Staff
The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter, held the second edition of the Voice of Change summit: ‘Gender Portrayal from 30 seconds to 3 Hours’ last Thursday (November 9).
After introductions and elucidation of the mission statements by Megha Tata, Co-Chair, IAA Women Empowerment Committee and Immediate Past President, IAA India Chapter, and Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Chairperson, IAA Women Empowerment Committee, there was an address by Cynthia McCaffrey from the Unicef “Gender inequalities in children’s lives and in the lives of those who care for them, hinder their growth, development, learning and eventually in reaching their full potential. Statistically, the lack of parity impacts girls and women the most but also disadvantages men and boys,” she said, adding: “Children observe and learn social cues from many forms of content including advertising and it plays a powerful role in shifting perceptions on gender roles. UNICEF is delighted to be the knowledge partner with IAA and its members on this very important journey to promote positive gender roles and practices through advertising, so every young person can live a life free from stereotypes and achieve their full potential”.
A multi-lingual study powered by Google AI titled, “Reflecting India – An intersectional and longitudinal analysis of popular scripted television from 2018 to 2022”, led jointly by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDI), the Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory (SAIL) at the University of Southern California (USC) as the academic advisor, and the IAA as media studies advisor was also unveiled at the event. The study covered the 10 most popular scripted television shows in India across five languages – Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu – between 2018 and 2022, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), India.
The study revealed several data-driven insights about representation in the India media and entertainment sector. Across all the shows analysed, young adults between the ages of 18 and 32 were seen the most, accounting for 75.6% of all characters present on screen, while characters with lighter skin appeared 8X more than characters with medium or dark skin tones. Female characters were present on screen and their names mentioned in dialogue more than male characters, amounting to over half of a show’s time, with 7 in 10 of all perceived female characters on screen typically being young and having lighter skin tones.
Said Neha Barjatya, Director, Marketing, Google India: “Access to digital is crucial to opening up the gateways of information, opportunity and progress, and we’re committed to building products that empower everyone to use the internet with convenience and confidence. Bridging the digital gender gap is core to this, and we’re committed to doing our part to ensure women’s participation in the digital economy is equitable – be they as creators, innovators, or entrepreneurs. As an AI-first company, we’re delighted to power this groundbreaking study and join hands with GDI, SAIL and IAA to build a better understanding of representation in popular media, and inform the industry’s progression towards greater inclusiveness.”
Chief Guest Khushbu Sundar, Founder, Avni Cinemas and Member of National Commission for Women, also spoke on the occasion.
The event saw the felicitation of Gender Warriors, industry seniors who have “championed gender equity, and led by example as protagonists of change”. This included advertising veteran KV ‘Pops’ Sridhar, Dr A L Sharada, Director, Population First, and social activist Dr Shyam Sundar Paliwal.
Additionally, the event also recognized the distinguished service of, and felicitated the IAA North Star awardees, Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and Managing Director, R K Swamy and Ramesh Narayan, Founder, Canco Advertising, for their contribution to the IAA.
The day also saw panel discussion with industry experts Sameer Nair, MD, Applause Entertainment; Aparna Purohit, Head of Originals, Amazon Prime Video; Gaurav Banerjee, Content and Business Head, Disney Star, journalist Anuradha Sengupta, Raj Kamble, Founder and CCO, Famous Innovation; Mansha Tandon, Head of Marketing, YouTube India; Dr A L Sharada, director-screenplaywWriter Renzil D’Silva and journalist Prasad Sangameshwaran, among others.
The day concluded with a fireside chat with actor and activist Dia Mirza conducted by television host Atika Farooqui.