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About That Ad, and That Toxic Masculinity
I decided to watch the Gillette ad this morning. I wasn’t going to, because I really don’t care, in either direction. But I watched it since many of you are writing and commenting about it. Having watched it I say “meh.” I am not outraged by it, though I do understand what might cause folks to be irritated or even mildly angry. If you are outraged by it, you may be a little over-sensitive. But I don’t think any of you are. This is another red cups moment, where our cultural opponents project their own behaviors on to us.
Leaving aside the fact that a razor company ought to just shut up about cultural values and sell razors, I think there are some points worth considering.
First, the ad shows bullying. I don’t know if bullying is a bigger deal now than it was before, but it is a problem. And the problem with bullying is bullies. We do need to teach our young men to be men, and that picking on and intimidating other kids who are weaker than them has no place in manhood.
Second, the ad shows young men on the streets about to throw down. There is a problem here, but it isn’t masculinity. It is lack of masculinity in fathers who leave their sons to be raised by their mothers. Those young men are angry and bitter, and long to fit in, so they turn to gang-banging, crime, and violence. Again, we need to teach our young men to be men. Making babies and leaving them to be raised by a single mom has no place in manhood.
My third point is that the problems the ad tries to point are not strictly male problems. Women bully each other, too. Oh, it is much subtler, but it goes on. We all know that. We also know that men are the victims of sexual discrimination and other forms of sexual bullying, both by women and men. Again, it isn’t the same, and it may not be as prevalent. But it is there.
The thing is, treating each other like crap is part of the human condition. It’s a people thing. Not a man thing, not a woman thing, not a black thing. It is what we do lacking any influence to do something different. If Gillette wants to combat cultural decay, they’d be better off focusing on all of us loving each other and caring for each other, rather than using pop culture to further divide us.
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Please provide a hyperlink to the ad. Thanks.
I don’t entirely agree with this. When a guy is misbehaving, an assertive response is appropriate. From the point of view of the one misbehaving, or to a third party, this might look like bullying.
I’m thinking of something like Ender’s Game, where the little pipsqueak Bonzo acts like a bully, and apparently gets away with it for a long time because none of the bigger guys get in his face and make him back down. You usually don’t have to get physical to accomplish this. Just an aggressive approach, maybe with a little chest-bump, is sufficient to teach the lesson.
This post presents the true picture. The Gillette ad is a manifestation of the latest generational false premise that society has a capability to change human nature and cause a different behavioral result.
I personally don’t think any of the leaders in movements that go this route truly accept this false premise but it activates the herd instinct and bolsters the collective mindset, so it is politically effective. Obviously, it works as well in the commercial environment.
Know that attacks on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the signal that should put all Americans on alert. There are other such events taking place in the world, Brexit and the Israel boycott efforts, that are signals as well.
Have not watched it. Have no plans to watch it. But…
It interests me that, like Target a few years back and Dick’s more recently, this is an unforced entry into the world of conspicuous progressive inclusion / self-identification. Some companies…specifically those that rely on contracts with the USG…have had to very conspicuously pollute their workings with this kind of twaddle (and worse) for business purposes. (By the way, the pain to come from that will be massive and very damaging for a long time to come. But, I digress.) The better business decision for Gillette would seem to have been silence. Oh well, let the chips fall where they may…
You are talking about something that looks like bullying but isn’t. I’m talking about bullying. I’m talking about picking on someone just to be cruel.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=gillette+ad+toxic+masculinity
Did we watch the same ad? I watched We Believe: The Best Men Can Be. Where does it show bullying? It certainly says bullying, but the closest I see to bullying is @0:15, where superimposed text messages appear in a scene where a boy is hugging a fat woman, as rowdy boys trample the room, completely ignoring the boy who is hugging the fat woman. Who sent those superimposed text messages?
It does? Where? @0:21, a shirtless young man is gesticulating what I suppose are gang signs (if I knew anything about gang signs, which I don’t), but there’s no one else in the scene. The gesticulator is showing off for a camera, as far as any reasonable viewer can tell. It’s not even possible from that scene to conclude with any confidence that he’s “on the streets.”
The scenes that disgust me – not because they show disgusting behavior, but because Gillette presents them as if they were proof that all men are uncouth, violent, uncivilized savages – presumably toward women, include
Seriously, Gillette? A cartoon? Boys wrasslin’? Men grilling?
Especially as to boys wrasslin’, yes – boys will be boys, and that’s GOOD. There’s no need to excuse boys rough-housing.
The ad is not a reflection of reality, it is a reflection of someone’s imagination. Virtually none of the behavior depicted is bad. In a pool party scene @0:56, a disembodied voice says “Smile sweetie!” as we see a bikini-clad woman, and the response is a [Gillette-approved] man says “Come on!” What the HECK is bad about saying “Smile sweetie!” to a pretty girl in a bikini at a pool party?
The scenes @0:20 and @0:24 from the stage where the man is furtively goosing the shapely maid’s butt (or the maid’s shapely butt, if you prefer) is obviously a comedy, based on the fact that the gooser knows he’s behaving badly. It’s a scene from a comedy – parody. It’s not real – they’re acting!
This ad is disgusting. If the Gillette brand goes under as a result, it will not be an injustice.
BIG PICTURE: There is a larger phenomenon occurring in modern society where societal norms, and even laws are changing to restrict our individual freedoms not based on actual risks, but based on imagined risks. I’m surprised that so many people – men included – watch this ad and conclude that it demonstrates bad behavior. It doesn’t. It encourages the viewer to imagine bad behavior.
A black gent with whom I went to high school recently posted something on White Fragility on FB. I decided to go ahead and watch what he had linked, and I found the same thing. When you get beyond the bigotry and prejudice inherent in terms (toxic masculinity, white fragility, etc.), they are usually speaking of elements of human nature. It’s just that Progressives believe that only those other people are human.
Agree. Wouldn’t it show better judgement to highlight events in our society and government that are truly bad, even criminal?
That is an important message that needs to be addressed, although marketing execs for razor companies probably aren’t the best ones to deliver it.
Sting said “People go crazy in congregations but they only get better one by one.” Fatherlessness is not a problem that will be solved by the collective. It will be solved one young man at a time.
Amen, brother.
I understand. My impression is that much of the present problem stems from an inability to distinguish between good and bad male strength and aggression.
That’s right, but the inability to understand distinctions in behavior and other aspects of reality goes well beyond the area addressed by the Gillette message, a complete failure within our educational process to achieve the primary goal of teaching what critical thinking is, why it is important, and how to do it.
What do you mean when you say “present problem”? The bullying? Dealing with bullying?
Well, one of the things that shows up in the present context is using expressions of disagreement in thought or opinion as examples of bullying. This is a true impediment to the process of critical thinking. Has anyone noticed the increasing use of ‘verbal abuse’ or ’emotional abuse’ in domestic conflict? What is that, anyway?
Okay. Because of you I broke down and watched it. What in the world has that got to do with shaving?! There were guys who even had beards.
This only makes my mind go back to Hal making conversation with Detective Holtz in The Other Guys.
Hal: You probably think that because of the beard, I really hairy, but, uh, I’m not; shaved.
Holtz: Allen!
Hal: He’s fine
It’s not about shaving. But most advertisement is about making you think that if you buy that product, then you’ll have the life you want. So maybe if you are a wife beater, and you buy Gillette razors, you’ll stop beating your wife?
Most women shave more than I do. But you’re saying, if I use Gillette, and lose the sideburns, I’ll… want to stop beating my wife? I can see that.
Actually Gillette says they just wanted the exposure that a controversy brings. Pretty desperate. I think I’ve got Gillette now linked in my mind with misogyny. They messed up. Anyway, I don’t always shave, but when I do shave, I prefer a straight razor. Stay beardless, my friends. True.
No, I’m saying advertisement people believe that people respond to emotional appeals. That’s why Mountain Dew commercials always show hot people swinging on rope swings and laughing and having a gay old time, even though both know the only people who drink Mountain Dew are tubby D&D players.
Wait! I know lots of people who drink Mountain Dew for the kick because they are opposed to drinking coffee, I guess because coffee is bad for your health and Mountain Dew isn’t? Huh?
And gauging by your original post, advertisement people are correct. An ad that shows little to no bullying, and shows no young men on the streets about to throw down, was described by you as showing both. Your interpretation is not based on the facts, i.e. the images displayed in the commercial. Your interpretation is based on emotions triggered by the ad.
The ad is pure fakery, and the conventional interpretation of that fakery is a troublesome reflection of the popular culture.
The “present problem” that I refer to is the attack on masculinity in particular, and the attack on the existence of sex differences or legitimate sex roles more generally.
I can’t remember how long it’s been since I was clean shaven.
Ok, but that’s not at all an argument about kids bullying other kids, right?
FIFY.
I hate the term bullying. It’s emasculating.
Bully for you.
No. Bully for you. Assault and battery for me (at least after grade school).
Don’t worry, Spin’ll steer you right.