Queer Ecologies: Task for today

[meghna]

Respond to the videos, reflecting on the role of advertisements and media in the construction of gender identities and sexualities.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[aarushi_p]

Both the ads are very touching, but i found the 1st one more so. Transgenders aren't given the respect we owe them. While watching the ad, Simone de Beauvoir's statement, "One isn't born a woman, but becomes one" comes to mind. It's not necessary for a biological woman to harbour maternal feelings, neither is it necessary that a person who's not assigned the female sex at birth can't have maternal feelings.
When the 2nd ad started out, i thought that it's about 2 friends living together, and only as it progressed did i understand what it's actually about.
Both of the ads are very progressive, and give out a positive message.

Brand Image and Intended Messages

[crystall1z3d]

There are many striking things about ads like the ones above, but there is one particular thought that comes to mind for me. Brands associate themselves with images and messages. By using ads they reinforce those messages, diversify that image and etc.

I think it's interesting to see here that 'Vicks' a brand that has cultivated an image of giving relief and providing care for children and adults alike has chosen to put across the given ad. The advertisement, quite popular, is one that talks about a transwoman and her life, her life after she adopts a child. How society tells her that she isn't a real mother even though she couldn't be more real and important to her child. She takes of her daughter and she brings relief to her daughter's mind, giving her capability and strength to dream and to be confident in it.

The brand 'Anouk' & 'Myntra's ad featuring a lesbian couple again is very interesting. 'Anouk' is predominantly a brand selling traditional Indian wear. Not so traditional, but certainly wear that is known as 'Indian'. The brand that has such connotations then airing an ad featuring a lesbian couple is in itself an interesting and, according to me, a lovely way to relate queer to tradition. Especially since most of tradition seems to outright deny any such reality. The advertisement doesn't feature a turning point, nor does it have a dramatic reveal of sort. It simply shows two girls who are in love, and who are comfortable with each other, and ends with 'Bold is beautiful' and this boldness doesn't appear in the form of a passion packed action but rather their calm and loving every day in a world that doesn't entirely accept them. So this ad links traditional Indian to queer and links to that to everyday life and calm.

-Jayeeta