How many times have we seen advertisements blatantly misrepresent female desire, and by virtue of that, the female body? When this writer jogs her memory, quite a few ‘popular’ ads come to mind. But it isn’t just about the obvious ones — videos that have scantily dressed women clustered around a man applying a deodorant or problematic phrases like ‘men will be men’ which have permeated social conversations — the sexist mindset behind the creation of such advertisements runs much deeper.
 
This Friday, a panel discussion, Female Desire in Advertising: Breaking or Reinforcing Cultural Taboos? featuring ad-filmmakers Prahlad Kakar and Kopal Naithani, writer and filmmaker Ria Singh, filmmaker and visual artist Jessica Sadana and Praveena Venugopal, the creative director of MyMuse will gather at APRE Art House for a conversation on how advertising shapes female desire in an one-hour session moderated by Ramya Rao, executive producer at Oink Films.

A view of the gallery space