Constructing active and passive image

One of the effects of male gaze operating in the production of television advertisements is construction of active and passive images. Most of the advertisements have a tendency to fit into or create any of the binary opposition like male gaze/female look, male active/ female passive, male outdoor/female indoor, male earning/female spending etc. By creating such binary oppositions, the advertisements try to construct ideologies where one is preferred over the other. Most of the advertisements, in doing so, attach the negative attributes towards women characters. Dr. Abhi Subedi in one of his articles that review the photographs of young women published in Nepali newspaper writes that "in Nepal there are no such magazines that feature women's bodies in any bold manner"(18) and their passivity is so expressive in the photographs that "several of these young women in their efforts to show their bodylines in an expressive manner, look like sculptures"(18).

This passivity also applies to television advertisements. The advertisement of NB Bank Grihini Bachat present a woman with her backside turned towards the audience (which is also a situation as desired or required by the voyeurs). The advertisement’s aim is to encourage women towards saving. Contrary to the aim, the advertisement seems more preoccupied with the effect of arising libidinal desires on the male audience. The focus of the advertisement is on the bare part of the woman’s neck and arms (Clip 10), so the face of the woman is not seen while her entire body is seen. More importantly, the advertisement places the woman in kitchen and presents her as a passive and domestic object. The advertisement thus presents an image of woman who without her face is the passive bearer of the look or the male gaze. The special scheme targeted to such passive Clip 10 “grihini” and the way her image is presented is contributing to construct the active and passive images with regard to sex.

This particular advertisement could be more fitting to have a comparative analysis with the photographs in Kodak Film’s photography guide Home Movies Made Easy, of which John Hartley in his book Politics of Picture did analysis. As the photographs in Kodak’s guide allocates active and passive roles to members of a family, the advertisement of NB Bank functions to cast women as passive and sexual objects.

The advertisement of Agrino Premium Rice is another example of the advertisements that portray active male gaze which the passive female receives. The advertisement presents two characters, one male another female. The male gazes the Clip 11 female while the female never looks back to the male. She is simply a passive bearer of male gaze (Clip 11). The advertisement thus tries to create active and passive images in the screen by presenting a biased man-woman relation. The reason is that the advertisement is produced in a way that caters to the need of the male gaze.

The advertisement of Shakti Oil displays the effect of male gaze in terms of producing images that portray women as bearer of the look of men. The advertisement displays several characteristics that are typical to male gaze. Firstly the female character barely speaks and looks other characters and the audience. The male with a sense of possession and control directs his gaze towards the woman (Clip 12). As Clip 12 given in the picture the effect is clearly visible in the woman being looked at. She feels controlled and weaker while realising that she is being looked at by a man. The audio version of the advertisement translated into English reads like this:

Children: Shakti ! Children: What is Shakti? (Six years ago, in the day when prospective bride had gone to look prospective bridegroom.) Mother: (to the girl) If you have to say anything, please speak. Boy: What oil did you used to cook the food? Girl: (Shyly) Shakti. Children: (Jokingly) Mummy, which oil do you use in cooking? Shakti pure refined soybean oil, our family, our Shakti! (My translati...........[some sections missing] ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........  ...........

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ok at the audio version of the advertisement also, the woman character who is exposed as a passive bearer of look is not given a chance to speak, she is silenced. Neither is she given a chance to look at others. Her eyes are looking down. The speakers are mostly males who can look and both of their looks and words are directed towards the woman. The question of the would-be-husband “what oil did you use to cook the food?” to the would-be-wife is characteristic of a male gaze trying to impose his preferences. The woman is taciturn who just replies “Shakti”. The latter part of the advertisement shows how she is, in the sixth year after their marriage, still following the preferences of her husband expressed at the time of their engagement. All these devices in the advertisement are employed in a bid to shape the advertisement in perspective of male gaze.

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