So, another advertising campaign, another round of outrage on Indian social media. These images of abused goddesses, with the lines: “Pray that we never see this day. Today, more than 68 per cent of women in India are victims of domestic violence. Tomorrow, it seems like no woman shall be spared. Not even the ones we pray to.”
Wait. I don’t like the campaign. But I don’t like this need to froth at the mouth about every thing every day either.
My first reaction on seeing this on facebook: Dudes, our goddesses are kickass, not meek and vulnerable to abuse. Notice Durga? That’s a lion standing behind her. And all those weapons of mass destruction in her hands?
And then I thought: How long before some nutcase files a court case claiming the artist caused offence to Indian religious sentiments? Been known to happen before.
This advertising campaign has been created by an agency called Taproot, for the dubiously named Save Our Sisters.
In my long career in market research, I have worked closely with advertising agencies. I imagine this is what happened. Some creative team got antsy about an awards ceremony to come and “brainstormed” over endless amounts of caffeine and nicotine late into the night. Aha, in India, we worship our goddesses but we beat the shit out of our women – let’s rock this, man.
And they rocked it, And won the awards. And all was well, till these images resurfaced mysteriously on facebook three years later.
Here is the thing with ads made with awards in mind – they are made with little else in mind. Remember Ford Figo? Poor taste, poor timing. But then, when has the advertising industry been known for its fine taste?
Anyway, so, these abused goddesses. Buzzfeed, from where I got these images, calls it “incredibly powerful”, The Independent and Huff Post call them “shocking.”
These glossy photographs of very pretty, young women in red lipstick bearing bruise marks. Attention grabbing? Yes. Shocking? Hmmm. Incredibly powerful? Sorry. No.
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Update:
Nisha Susan writes about the trouble with being a goddess in The Ladies Finger: “The problem with the term domestic violence is that, like the prettily bruised goddesses, it doesn’t quite capture the shattering of bones, the clotting of blood, the breaking of nose, the breaking of teeth, the breaking of ribs, the attempts to burn you. Neither does it quite capture the casual slap, the once in a lifetime slap, the eternal threat of the slap. It doesn’t quite get that second meaning of the word ‘beaten’. It is being defeated. Only by someone you know and trust.”
And Lakshmi Chaudhry says in her First Post article that Durga Ma as battered wife is a giant step backward for womankind: “It is an updated iteration of the conservative woman-as-goddess theme; highlighting the plight of the Sati/Savitris and Ghar ki Lakshmis who suffer at the hands of uncaring men. It sends out the message that ”good” women deserve our protection and compassion — while unwittingly suggesting that the “bad” ones may not.”