The new Gillette commercial kicks ass. It’s rocking the controversy wave, calling out toxic masculinity, empowering dudes to hold one another accountable, and sparking conversation. Sure, a select few are threatening to never buy Gillette products again, suggesting the company’s new ad panders to women while slandering men, but hey, if the ad didn’t stir up a little racket, I’d say it failed. For better publicity or for worse, people everywhere seem to have zealous opinions about the ad, which means it’s at least fulfilled its purpose of garnering people’s attention.
I recently saw a post on social media which went as far as to outwardly state that the Gillette ad was a political ploy, distracting the “sheeple” from more significant issues. This, of course, made me chuckle. While I don’t find it unreasonable to assume the U.S. government influences news coverage, I do find it absurd to purport that those who reacted to Gillette’s ad are in any way sidetracked from consuming other media. Besides, feminist politics are just as worthy of attention as any other politics; we all pick and choose which things to keep tabs on and they tend to be the ones that affect us most directly. I’m confident that as generally intelligent beings, we all watched the Gillette ad for one minute and forty-eight seconds and still had brainpower left for dissecting other news.
More to the point though, despite my contention for bloggers who label those concerned with social disputes “sheeple,” I have more pressing concerns with the number of men who felt affronted by the ad itself. Since Gillette premiered its new commercial during the Super Bowl – imploring men to respect women, empower their daughters, foster mutually respectful relationships, and inspire societal change – several men have come forward on platforms like Twitter to make their grief public. These men tweeted variations of similar complaints alleging that Gillette is offensive, gender shaming, and emasculating. Many have even demanded a formal apology from the company. Supposedly, these men argue that Gillette has somehow picked a fight with masculinity itself instead of with the inappropriate behaviors of specific men. They claim the Gillette ad accuses males of being intrinsically flawed and stereotypes an entire gender.
I disagree. The narrator in the ad very deliberately states that many men have already begun to rise to the challenge, but that “some is not enough.” These words are clearly meant to acknowledge and praise men who are already involved in bettering the community while encouraging others to rise to action. In my opinion, Gillette depicts pervasive cultural norms which are deeply embedded in our society: the idea that men must prove dominance through violence, that empathy is a feminine attribute, that respect is earned through aggression, or that women should be treated any differently than men. That being said, this doesn’t mean that all aspects of masculinity are condemnable, but rather that men should work to reevaluate what it means to be a man in 2019. Let me put this simply. If you aren’t participating in the behaviors portrayed in the ad – bullying, demeaning others, catcalling, objectifying women, and all the while making excuses – there’s no need to feel accused, and if you are doing those things, then you should absolutely feel like we’re coming for you. We are.
Photo credit to Inside Edition
Truthfully, I really have to wonder, if men are tweeting that they won't apologize for “being male,” what exactly do they define as being male? Disrespecting their peers? Denying boys the freedom to show emotion and participate in the human experience? Sexual harassment? Hubris? Behaviors are not your gender. If you’re a nice guy, you won’t get strung out over ads that set the bar higher for dudes to be decent. In fact, it seems more likely that less than honorable men are sore their indecent behaviors will no longer be tolerated. Sorry, not sorry, gentlemen.
Besides, toxic masculinity, as referenced in Gillette’s ad, is not an expression which qualifies masculinity as toxic itself. That’s why we need the adjective. Toxic masculinity is the idea that teaching men to suppress their feelings, always act tough, and show power through domination and violence can have detrimental effects on not just women, but men themselves. It is men we see more frequently in prisons, men that struggle the most academically, men who have an inability to connect emotionally with their partners, and men who are more likely to commit violent crimes or be subject to them. Toxic masculinity is the idea that our community has created a toxic archetype for men to live up to, one which we desperately need to disassemble and reconstruct.
This #Notallmen bullshit that’s been popping up lately, in regards to #MeToo and the Gillette commercial, really misses the mark. As a society, we know all men aren’t the problem. What becomes dangerous is engendering passivity in response to the men who are – a bystander effect where men and women alike stubbornly cross their arms and say, “This isn’t me; this isn’t all men.” This phenomenon is detrimental for two reasons: firstly, because it allows people to shy away from taking preventative measures and discharging inappropriate situations and secondly, because it diminishes the severity of the disparity of equality which still exists between men and women. There’s no room to be defensive if good men are going to help lesser men become better men.
Photo by Alicia Goodwin
Always put out an ad similar to Gillette’s in 2015 for feminine hygiene products. The ad cleverly asked children and both male and female adults to demonstrate what running “like a girl,” throwing “like a girl,” and fighting “like a girl” look like. With a touch of humor, the commercial expertly outs some of the stereotypes we tend to believe growing up in a society which characterizes women as less competitive, dainty, and incapable while also revealing that young girls generally don’t see themselves this way. The ad gracefully reminds us not to perpetuate damaging female stereotypes while celebrating the resilience of young girls.
It is this ad that Charles Taylor compares to Gillette’s in his recent Forbes article entitled “Why Gillette’s New Ad Campaign is Toxic.” In the article, Taylor asserts that Gillette took a huge risk running their new commercial and suggests that the Always ad was better received because it focused on the positive accomplishments of one gender rather than blasting the shortcomings of another. While I do agree that Gillette took quite the risk, I don’t think the ad was better received because it was more optimistic. Both ads show the negative sway of sexism first and transition to more positive images second. Both ads call out poor behavior and both ads intend to inspire. What’s really different is two things.
The ad Gillette premiered during the Super Bowl intentionally does not use humor and it is specifically tailored as a message for men, not a message inclusive of both genders. There’s nothing funny about the struggles men and women currently face so eliminating comedy from the commercial is a wise choice. But why holler at just the guys? Well, because Gillette didn’t want to sugarcoat the root of the issue. Not nearly enough men are involved in changing the dynamic between men and women and men and men.
Tailoring the message to men specifically calls them to action. It says, “Gentlemen, we have a tremendous role in shaping the men of the future. Are you helping?” Rather than letting men sit back on their couches and idly watch the commercial (with the convenience of assuming many other men and women have got this), it makes men feel responsible. This is the part I believe makes men and perhaps even Mr. Taylor so uncomfortable.
The fact of the matter is that Gillette’s ad does not insult men, not even slightly. Quite the contrary, it empowers men to use the influence they have for positive change, to model the behaviors they want to identify the modern man, and to step up and harness their strength to put wrong things in this world right. One of the best things about the new ad is the eye contact the men make with the camera. Gillette portrays men of all shapes, sizes, and colors listening to the news and reacting. Their expressions are full of obligation, hope, and pride.
In 1989, the same year I was born, Gillette came out with the marketing campaign, “The best a man can get.” The fact that thirty years later they are revisiting their slogan and aligning it with the times is commendable. Is the best a man can get as menial as a clean shave? Or is it redefining the expectations of men to include more empathy, more respect, and more honor? I’ll let you decide.