'We Need To Make It Less Aspirational For Women To Have Just Wonderful Skin'

Maneka Gandhi, Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development, was speaking at the ongoing Goafest 2017. The minister also urged advertiser to sneak in rights as an issue in their ad narratives to create an attitudinal shift where it will be more aspirational in our society to have girls

At the ongoing Goafest 2017, Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi urged the media fraternity, and specifically the advertisers, to rewrite the narrative around showcasing women.

Speaking at the event Gandhi stated that the advertisers had the power to challenge stereotypes, "It is important for advertisers to create content which allows women to have access to rights. So far we have crated demands for products like Fair & Lovely, to want flawless skin etc. I think the time has come when we need to start creating a demand for more important issues concerning women."

Gandhi also urged advertiser to sneak in rights as an issue in their ad narratives to create an attitudinal shift where it will be more aspirational in our society to have girls. Gandhi singled out the campaigns like the recent ad featuring Aamir Khan in the 'Gupta & Daughters' campaign and the Nirma ad which showcased women in a different light and questioned the stereotypes. We need to make it less aspirational for women to have just wonderful skin."

Speaking about how her ministry was leveraging technology platforms to make it easier for women to report harassment, Gandhi added, "We have created an innovative communication platform called 'HelpMeWCD', which allows women to seek help in situations in which she is subjected to any kind of rights' abuse. They can easily reach out to us using this platform and so far it has been a big success."

The minister also stated that the union government was making all attempts to enforce laws and create campaigns to bring more awareness about equal rights for women both at home and at the workplace.