The Cult of Beauty: Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising

This book deconstructs the quintessential Indian woman that the advertising industry portrays across the spectrum by looking at Indian advertisements across multiple brands with a gender lens based on societal and sociological perspectives.

Jaishri Jethwaney did her Doctorate from the School of International Studies, JNU, her Masters in Political Science from Hindu College, Delhi University; and professional education in mass communication and journalism both in India and abroad. In an academic career spanning over 25 years, she was Professor & Program Director at the coveted Indian Institute of Mass Communication, followed by two-year stint as Project Director in the ICSSR research project on Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising which was followed by her extensively reviewed book, The Beauty Paradigm: Gender Discourse in Indian Advertising (2022) Currently Dr Jethwaney is the Senior Advisor in Public Health Communication with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in its Immunology Technical Support Unit (ITSU) since December 2022.

Prof. Jethwaney has been a lead communication expert for many national and international consultancies in the social sector arena. She is on the board of studies of several central and state universities.

A widely read author, Prof. Jethwaney’s books on Advertising, Corporate Communication and Social Sector Communication are very popular among academics, professionals, and scholars not only in India but also many countries.