Ariel's Open Letter Wants The Creative Industry To Portray Woman As An Equal

The revolutionary #ShareTheLoad movement wants equal representation of men and women in media for an equal future.

Dear producers, directors, and content creators,

For the longest time we, the audience, have tried to convey how women should have equal space on-screen. It is not always about portraying them in the lead. And it is not even about how they are strong. Or how they should be given more “air-time”. The idea is very simple that women must not be “pigeon-holed” into playing roles by conventional standards.

That is not to say we have not come a long way from the days when women were restricted to the role of an ideal mother or wife, primarily shown on screen taking care of the household or the family. The kind of ads where she would run around the house with a rolling pin in her hand while the man was lounging on the sofa with a TV remote in hand. The creative industry, thus, must be congratulated for taking steps in de-bunking the stigma around the definition of an “ideal wife or daughter-in-law”. Today, we have access to narratives and stories which portray women in the much-needed progressive light.

Part of the credit for moving away from such stereotypes also rests on Ariel and their #ShareTheLoad awareness drive. Through their award-winning movement #ShareTheLoad, Ariel has been advocating for gender equality in the division of domestic tasks for more than half a decade now. Their latest film #SeeEqual #ShareEqual, launched a few weeks back, raises pertinent questions on why and how unconscious bias comes in the way of men taking up joint responsibility for household chores. It asks, “If men can share the load equally with other men, why not with their wives?”.

Taking this movement, a step forward, Ariel has now published an open letter to the creative industry requesting the stakeholders to consider an equal, progressive and authentic portrayal of women in the content they create and produce. The letter aims to acknowledge and address the role of imagery and representation in tackling unconscious bias. It highlights how communication is vital in breaking through the other unspoken but acceptable prejudices that exist in society even today.

The letter talks about the vicious cycle between imagery and society, which continue to imitate each other unless a concerted effort is put in to break this cycle. It asks why women are depicted as singularly shouldering domestic responsibilities.

Through this question, Ariel also highlights how society often consciously or subconsciously impersonates or imitates what is portrayed on screen. It argues that so long as women are shown to be singularly getting all household chores done, these stereotypes will continue to get perpetuated in our households.

Through this letter, Ariel is inviting advertisers, media partners, and content creators to break this cycle, by being more conscious of showing progressive, authentic, and equal imagery that can unwind decades of conditioning and tackle stereotypes. Because what we see, impacts us. And if we see more equal imagery, we can reassess our own biases and attempt to be more equal in our approach.