Gillette
I could probably write a book about the attacks on gender, toxic masculinity, #MeToo, and all that, but right now I'm just gonna scratch the surface. Gillette came out with a commercial, if you call it that, about how men need to rise up and hold each other accountable. Overall I was actually kind of impressed with it, but there were a couple things that they could have left out to make it less political. It isn't a novel idea that we are our brother's keepers. There's been a huge blowup about this commercial, and it's based more on the politics than the actual message.
The shameless #MeToo plug and "toxic masculinity" reference took the ad from being a neutral PSA to pushing an agenda, and that is a problem. I have been a victim of sexual assault and abuse, but I refuse to align myself with these movements because individuals do not define the quality of a whole. There are bad men out there, but there are also bad women. I personally know men who have been victims of abuse at the hands of a female, but nobody ever talks about "toxic femininity." Abuse and assault don't discriminate. There are only victims and perpetrators. Just because there are more female victims doesn't mean that masculinity is to blame. It means that some people are bad. The fault is in the heart of the individual, not their sex.
I believe that we are having an identity crisis because we have forgotten what femininity and masculinity are. We have confused what we are made to be. The phrase "boys will be boys" was used with a negative vibe in the commercial, and that's probably because now it has become a demeaning phrase. There were a couple little boys wrestling each other in the commercial, and eventually one ended up beating on the other. I have four younger brothers. They wrestle and brawl a lot. Boys do that; that's how they're wired. Males naturally are more competitive, especially physically. There isn't anything wrong with that. What is wrong is when they are not taught that their natural tendencies for aggression and competition must be controlled. That's how any tendency is. All leanings toward something need to be correctly directed. In the proper setting (i.e. protecting loved ones, sports, military, a drive to succeed...), men can use those traits for great good.
In the quest for women to be more "equal" and independent, boys have been neglected. They have been overshadowed by people saying that anything they can do, girls can do better. Our culture has done a great disservice to men. They have been left to fend for themselves, with few role models to learn from. And that is where I feel Gillette got it right. We need good men to rise up and take others under their wing. We need women to stand by their sides and encourage them.
We need to build each other up. Our world is falling apart because the sexes are slated against each other, and people are more focused on waging a war of opinion than how to fix the issues at hand. That's not how we're made! We are made to fit together and live in harmony. It's time we start acting like it.
The shameless #MeToo plug and "toxic masculinity" reference took the ad from being a neutral PSA to pushing an agenda, and that is a problem. I have been a victim of sexual assault and abuse, but I refuse to align myself with these movements because individuals do not define the quality of a whole. There are bad men out there, but there are also bad women. I personally know men who have been victims of abuse at the hands of a female, but nobody ever talks about "toxic femininity." Abuse and assault don't discriminate. There are only victims and perpetrators. Just because there are more female victims doesn't mean that masculinity is to blame. It means that some people are bad. The fault is in the heart of the individual, not their sex.
I believe that we are having an identity crisis because we have forgotten what femininity and masculinity are. We have confused what we are made to be. The phrase "boys will be boys" was used with a negative vibe in the commercial, and that's probably because now it has become a demeaning phrase. There were a couple little boys wrestling each other in the commercial, and eventually one ended up beating on the other. I have four younger brothers. They wrestle and brawl a lot. Boys do that; that's how they're wired. Males naturally are more competitive, especially physically. There isn't anything wrong with that. What is wrong is when they are not taught that their natural tendencies for aggression and competition must be controlled. That's how any tendency is. All leanings toward something need to be correctly directed. In the proper setting (i.e. protecting loved ones, sports, military, a drive to succeed...), men can use those traits for great good.
In the quest for women to be more "equal" and independent, boys have been neglected. They have been overshadowed by people saying that anything they can do, girls can do better. Our culture has done a great disservice to men. They have been left to fend for themselves, with few role models to learn from. And that is where I feel Gillette got it right. We need good men to rise up and take others under their wing. We need women to stand by their sides and encourage them.
We need to build each other up. Our world is falling apart because the sexes are slated against each other, and people are more focused on waging a war of opinion than how to fix the issues at hand. That's not how we're made! We are made to fit together and live in harmony. It's time we start acting like it.
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