Advertisements around the world, depict culture norms and help dissect gender stereotypes. Across many countries, adverts are used to reinforce gender roles along with the product representation. Fair n Lovely is a brand which comes under the umbrella of Unilever and recently in 2020 changed their name to Glow n Lovely in essence to not restrict them to “fair” skin tones. Do we truly believe this? Considering the women in their adverts are still the same, they have a fairly fair skin tone with perfect symmetric features and no blemishes on their skin. How can we believe their statement when their actions are not in line with their statements? The question is why the shift in name? Renaming the brand, emphasises on how the brand is more focused on radiance and provides a more holistic way to make your skin glowy which is a better indicator of skin health. The shift could also highlight that the brand is trying to be more inclusive and accepting of Pakistani skin tones. This could mean that Unilever wants to expand their horizon and try to cater other skin tones. Or is this a marketing strategy? Considering how the company even after changing the name of the brand has still reinforced the “fairness” stereotype by hiring models or actresses who are fair. So are they trying to change their brand image or earn additional revenue from this strategy? Lastly, these kind of adverts use this concept of before and after narratives which show how the model’s life changes after using the cream, primarily associating “fairness with success” but there is no correlation established. Since the target media are women of all age groups from teens to adults, this message can be highly misguiding and can lead to women feeling uncomfortable in their own skin tones. These adverts usually abide with cultural and societal norms, they promote colourism and discrimination based on skin tones. Companies should know better and understand how their brand not only is an image of them but also becomes a part of the identity of their consumer.

I was asked by a friend to watch this movie, and upon their constant nudging, I gave in, to be honest, and questioned our entire friendship after the movie. My first reaction was just why? Why did the Bollywood industry want to show this? Why would you invest billions in showing a story that, yes, happens quite typically in South Asian countries? It is not something you want to preach. I have always associated movies, as you know, with some kind of hidden lesson behind them or some element that resonates with me. Looking back, this movie is about a typical rich boy in a patriarchal family involved in drugs; his parents are concerned but also let him do anything he wants because “he is a boy.” If a girl depicted this behavior, I feel like this movie would have been banned. The other main character is a girl; she’s shy, submissive, and a perfect girlfriend. In essence, she is the perfect dream for any man; she is shy, has no strong views of feminism, and instead lets the guy get away with everything. The tale is a classic love story, where the girl is the damsel in distress, and the guy has a very bad past but ‘saves’ the girl and becomes a man. The cinematography and the overall direction are quite intriguing as they depict the norm accurately. I was pretty confused watching this movie as it has very questionable features, and your initial reaction would be just to get up and leave, but looking back at our class discussions, I feel sometimes media shows you everything the way it is, without glamourizing it so you see how wrong it is. The movie either was hated or loved. There was no grey area. Though I sincerely, deeply despise the movie as it goes against all my morals and values, I hold high regard for it; I feel like this is the only Bollywood movie that serves two purposes, depending on how you watch it. It reinforces these stereotypes but at the same time shows you how we as a society have made a path for this kind of men to thrive and molded women to be as accepting as possible. So, is this actually a bad movie, in essence?

Young Sheldon revolves around a child named Sheldon who is the brightest of his peers and family. His eidetic memory and arrogance interplay to create solutions and disputes in his relationships. This tv show is not specifically targeting any age but caters largely to young adults or teens. This show highlights the biasness of the education system, the complex dynamics of a family and the hurdles of a bright child through his life. The sitcom highlights different challenges of a family: shows how much effort mothers put in household work, how they place their families before themselves, how mothers are the fundamental structure without whom everything comes crashing down. This sitcom highlights issues that may seem small at hand such as the complexity of being a “Texan man”- the show elaborates how Sheldon has this built in patriotism inside him which leads him to defy from his normal theoretical responses to a completely different practical stance. This is the only show that captures the complexity of a sibling’s bond- it focuses on Missy (Sheldon’s twin) and George (elder brother) and how Sheldon’s interactions are different with either. Missy is shown as a very strong female character with set ideas and notions, who can see how Sheldon is always prioritised over her. We see this frustration constantly but we also see the parallel where she protects and guides Sheldon. The complexity of her character is what makes her so interesting, she has a very different bond with all her family relatives and it can be seen how her character interacts with them. She loves and adores her elder brother greatly, she is also the one who helps him process a great change in his life, while their family is criticising him. She takes a stand for her family always. She can also be seen as “daddy’s little princess” in the sense how her father always tries to make it up to her and have a good bond whereas her mother can be seen constantly asking her to be more like her. Her relationship with her Meemaw is the most adorable and highlights how children inspire to be like their grandparents and will eventually have role models with similar aspiring goals as themselves. Missy in my opinion is the perfect balance to Sheldon’s character and provides that buffer required to make this show successful.