Fair skin sells the cream

Trendy women sell the scooter

Dashing men sell the car

Seductive gestures can sell almost anything



If media only mirrors reality, is advertising then guilty of misogyny, voyeurism and objectification of women?



In an attempt to look at Indian ads across various brand categories with a gender lens based on societal and sociological perspectives, The Beauty Paradigm: Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising deconstructs the quintessential Indian woman that the advertising industry depicts across the spectrum. Drawing insights from a seminal research study and Erving Goffman's classic book 'Gender Advertisements', this book traces the journey of a few decades to map trends and patterns in Indian advertising and presents the perspectives of the creative teams and top managements across Indian and global agencies.