Have you ever been heartbro­ken, as a woman, watching some Nepali TV ads? Some new commercials seem to be igno­rant of what women have achieved globally and instead continue to portray women as weak, inferior, and even stupid.Ad one: Two prominent cricketers Gyanendra Malla and Basanta Regmi enter a living room sporting cricket jerseys, arguing about their bowling whereas the female actor playing Gyanendra Malla’s wife is seen with a bowl and a tray of vegetables, in full make-up, watching a Hindi serial (being emotional too), who leaves the room (after drawing Gyanendra’s stare) so that the guys can watch TV.

 

Ad two: A helpless woman hangs on to the feet (literally) of her hus­band/boyfriend/lover who is holding on to iron rods convincing her that they will be safe as “the man” has the support of those life-saving (as if) rods. This commercial shows that women are such stupid creatures that they risk their lives holding on to the feet of their partners even in life-and-death situations. Even animals could know the dangers of these risks!

 

It is true that Nepal was a male-dominant country for long and ads like these could have been con­sidered normal. But hey, times have changed! For example, the head of the Nepali state is a woman (serv­ing her second term, in fact), there was a woman Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as well as Speaker of the House. Female literacy rate has gone up significantly (around 80 percent of women aged between 15-24), more and more women are holding senior positions in workplaces. So this kind of ignorance is no longer justifiable.

 

It is also true that there’s still a significant percent of Nepali wom­en who need men for emotional and financial support. Culturally, too, we can’t see the recent changes happening all over the country. In fact, we still hear cases of women beaten to death with allegations of witchcraft. We still hear about brutal stories of girls (even children) being gang-raped. This is exactly where the media (not just journalists but also ad agencies) can play a crucial role in conveying the message that women can live lives of dignity.

 

But, on the other hand, we can also learn from Indian TV commer­cials highlighting women’s roles in a creative manner. The ad of Indian cricketers with their mother's names printed on their jerseys breaks one stereotype. #Sharetheload is an example of a campaign started by Ariel detergent where a father acknowledges his problem in par­enting and encourages men to be role models and share the work load.

 

Television ads still have the power to influence people’s minds. And it is the responsibility of people from all walks of lives to acknowledge that there’s a growing population of women—educated, competent and self-reliant—who want the typical gender roles to end for good. It is now time to rise above the inequality paradigm.

 

BY PRERANA MARASINI

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