This was excellent, thank you for posting. It describes what bothered me about it better than I could.
As I talked about this with others, I was immediately bothered by the negativity of "do better". In my experience, that phrase is used in a negative way, to correct bad behavior. They could have just as easily left out lumping me into "me too" and said, "Be your best", which is a positive reinforcement that doesn't assume I need some kind of correction.
"Toxic masculinity" has been teaching men to be honorable for literally thousands of years without treating us like misbehaving 5-year-olds.
"To ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth- This was the ancient law of youth. Old times are past, old days done; But the law runs true, O little son!"
I agree Ben. My reaction was the same as her Dad's (and I'm sure many more men) for the same reasons. I was hesitant to speak out on social media because I knew the screeching haridan's would not understand. But my Martial Arts instructor, who embodies true masculinity, posted and asked for comments. I responded. Similar to her's and her Dad's.
I'm sure there are many men who have grown weary of the constant attacks, the continual making the abnormal the norm, the almost daily denigration of men and what it means to be a man to the point where they don't or won't engage anymore. I, for one, have been lured down the path of quietly not responding. But not responding is tacit approval. So, I put on my armour and try to speak truth to life. It mostly falls on deaf ears or preaches to the choir. My hope is someone, somewhere, sees and hears the truth through the cacophony.
First of all, I enjoyed reading about a Dad like the one in the linked article. A good man will be inspirational.
I wasn’t offended by the ad, I just didn’t get it. I don’t see masculinity that way and the other men I’m around do not act in that way, so I just wasn’t sure who the ad was targeting. Other than being annoying because it is needlessly preachy, I dismissed it. Not having cable, the only ads I see are on YT videos, and I only watched it because it was a thing.
It came up in conversation today at my gym and I was emailed a video about it. According to the guy in the video, the director of this commercial is a feminist who has made other things don’t portray males all that well. I wouldn’t call them negative portrayals, it just makes sense that a feminist made them. Same thing applies to the Gillette video. It shows masculinity in more of a negative light the way a “#metoo feminist” might see it. Not a Camille Paglia type feminist.
In the video he also talked about the real negative men in society being the male feminists that use feminism as a cover (Harvey Weinstein for example), something I had not considered but it made sense. That’s not talked about as much, and I don’t know that I even know a “male feminist” like that. But that is also NOT what classic masculinity is.
The strongest guys I know are also the most helpful. The hardest working guys I know seem to be the quietest. The best leaders help out anyone around them. We are involved in some home schooling communities and the dads of weird/socially awkward kids seem to take their parenting/mentorship very seriously. That’s the masculinity I see, know, and try to emulate.
Here is the video I was sent as a citation; it gets a little weird then repetitive around minute 18-19 but first 11 minutes were good. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJgWrO9_oQ
Gillete sells razors. They aren't a church, a religion, or a advocacy group or non-profit. They have no moral standing to lecture anyone.
They sell products. Period. I'm tired of "BRAND X" company thinking that because they have a large megaphone that I give two shits about what they think. I don't.
Just adds to my list of companies I won't do business with.
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BenW 5 years, 3 months ago
This was excellent, thank you for posting. It describes what bothered me about it better than I could.
As I talked about this with others, I was immediately bothered by the negativity of "do better". In my experience, that phrase is used in a negative way, to correct bad behavior. They could have just as easily left out lumping me into "me too" and said, "Be your best", which is a positive reinforcement that doesn't assume I need some kind of correction.
"Toxic masculinity" has been teaching men to be honorable for literally thousands of years without treating us like misbehaving 5-year-olds.
"To ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth-
This was the ancient law of youth.
Old times are past, old days done;
But the law runs true,
O little son!"
-- Charles T. Davis
Reply
elancaster65 5 years, 3 months ago
I agree Ben. My reaction was the same as her Dad's (and I'm sure many more men) for the same reasons. I was hesitant to speak out on social media because I knew the screeching haridan's would not understand. But my Martial Arts instructor, who embodies true masculinity, posted and asked for comments. I responded. Similar to her's and her Dad's.
I'm sure there are many men who have grown weary of the constant attacks, the continual making the abnormal the norm, the almost daily denigration of men and what it means to be a man to the point where they don't or won't engage anymore. I, for one, have been lured down the path of quietly not responding. But not responding is tacit approval. So, I put on my armour and try to speak truth to life. It mostly falls on deaf ears or preaches to the choir. My hope is someone, somewhere, sees and hears the truth through the cacophony.
Reply
grub 5 years, 3 months ago
Snowflakes
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Chet_Manly 5 years, 3 months ago
First of all, I enjoyed reading about a Dad like the one in the linked article. A good man will be inspirational.
I wasn’t offended by the ad, I just didn’t get it. I don’t see masculinity that way and the other men I’m around do not act in that way, so I just wasn’t sure who the ad was targeting. Other than being annoying because it is needlessly preachy, I dismissed it. Not having cable, the only ads I see are on YT videos, and I only watched it because it was a thing.
It came up in conversation today at my gym and I was emailed a video about it. According to the guy in the video, the director of this commercial is a feminist who has made other things don’t portray males all that well. I wouldn’t call them negative portrayals, it just makes sense that a feminist made them. Same thing applies to the Gillette video. It shows masculinity in more of a negative light the way a “#metoo feminist” might see it. Not a Camille Paglia type feminist.
In the video he also talked about the real negative men in society being the male feminists that use feminism as a cover (Harvey Weinstein for example), something I had not considered but it made sense. That’s not talked about as much, and I don’t know that I even know a “male feminist” like that. But that is also NOT what classic masculinity is.
The strongest guys I know are also the most helpful. The hardest working guys I know seem to be the quietest. The best leaders help out anyone around them. We are involved in some home schooling communities and the dads of weird/socially awkward kids seem to take their parenting/mentorship very seriously. That’s the masculinity I see, know, and try to emulate.
Here is the video I was sent as a citation; it gets a little weird then repetitive around minute 18-19 but first 11 minutes were good.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJgWrO9_oQ
Reply
ahnyerkeester 5 years, 3 months ago
Mona Charen at the National Review has a very good response to the response as well.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/gillette-ad-conservative-message-on-masculinity/
Reply
skilletboy 5 years, 3 months ago
Here's what pissed me off.
Gillete sells razors. They aren't a church, a religion, or a advocacy group or non-profit. They have no moral standing to lecture anyone.
They sell products. Period. I'm tired of "BRAND X" company thinking that because they have a large megaphone that I give two shits about what they think. I don't.
Just adds to my list of companies I won't do business with.
Reply