Old, established companies in the South Asian diaspora rarely make the leap towards cross-examining gender roles- but when they do- they seem to do it rather well.

Wagh Tea and Nirma (Washing Powder) promoted the role of women in the South Asian household and beyond through their recent advertisements, one depicting a wife taking a stand against neglect, and the other showing career-oriented women not afraid to take on a muddy challenge, respectively. These short films not only brought to light the misrepresentation of the female figure as a singularly family oriented and domesticated entity but, more importantly, they exemplified how essential it is to appreciate the input of effort and comforting presence of this figure in the fabric of the household.

In a recent, heart-warming video, Ariel Washing Powder utilize an emotionally heightened motive to drive home a significant point on how deeply embedded gender roles in South Asian society hamper the family dynamic and ingratiate values that are not conducive to the growth of a contented individual, much less household.

The video is essentially a father’s vocal, open letter to his married, working and mother-of-one daughter, as he reflects upon how each generation perpetuates the values of its predecessors, repeating their traditions and often failing to undergo an evolution for the better, in the context of the daily life his daughter leads. He talks about how his daughter learnt to run a household, while her male counterparts at the time, learnt to leave it to the females alone. He talks about how his daughter only learned what she saw and what she saw, was a deeply faulted system in which her father leaned heavily on her mother for all domestic work.

He apologizes, again and again, for allowing his daughter to believe that the men in her life were entitled to her ceaseless efforts in the house as a cook, a mother, a wife and a caretaker. He laments having set an example that sets her life going in a vicious circle, where she works a 9-5 job only to work more when she comes home. Most importantly, he notices her husband focused on his game or newspaper, and he recognizes himself in the man’s lack of consideration for a hardworking wife, and he realizes that he must be an agent of the change he wants to see.

The critical focus of this video is not in how his daughter was taught to multitask at the drop of a hat, but that she was doing it alone. Her partner in marriage failed to fulfill his end of the partnership, and this failure went unquestioned, whilst her simultaneously performing the work of two went underappreciated.

The impact of such a video on how South Asian social rules define the role of the female and male genders in the domestic sphere, is immense, as the #ShareTheLoad movement is becoming increasingly popular. It is heartening for any feminist to see, that the female figure is being freed of limiting expectations, albeit slowly, and the spotlight has been shifted from the female’s aptitude within her traditionally defined roles, to the male figure’s roles and responsibilities within the house that have gone for multiple generations, unfulfilled and unexamined. The video ends with the aged father vowing to turn over a new leaf, and helping his wife with his laundry for the first time in their many married years. It’s not too late.

Ariel makes a strong statement, an extremely socially relevant statement, and it is the hope of many wives, daughters and sisters out there, watching this touching narrative, that this shift in consciousness integrates itself into our social norms, and becomes the general rule, not the exception.

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