In the past I have often written about how men are portrayed in television advertisements. The latest that I found offensive include the following:
- A rather dorky looking guy is at the tunnel entrance watching his team enter the playing field. He shouts repeatedly “high tide” and the players going by give him a puzzled look. The woman next to him tells him that he should be saying “go tide” instead. With a sheepish grin he then shouts go tide and the players passing by smile.
- Several young men in the grandstands have their shirts off and letters on their chests indicating the team they are rooting for. A woman next to them tells them they have spelled their team incorrectly and need to re-arrange themselves to spell the name correctly. They laugh at themselves and follow the woman’s advice.
- A couple is pictured sitting on the floor putting a table together. The table appears assembled, and the woman finds a part and asks her partner if it is needed. He replies that everything is fine. The table then starts to collapse.
- A guy comes to a team’s tailgate party and offers a duck for the barbecue. It turns out that the team are called the ducks and everyone around him gives him a dirty look including a young girl who covers the eyes of her duck doll. The embarrassed guy walks away with an apologetic half smile.
- Two commercials show rather inept man attempting a task and failing. Their female partners then tells them to stop and the women call for a substitute to finish the tasks successfully.
There are probably more examples of men being jerks and needing women to correct or fix what they have done or are doing incorrectly. What escapes me is the motive of the advertisers to portray men as being dumb and needing women to bail them out. Does this approach appeal to women who see men as needing female assistance to succeed? Do more mature men find it amusing because they remember times when a woman did help them correct their mistakes?
My biggest concern is how younger men and boys perceive these messages. Does it reinforce the notion that men are truly jerks and being a jerk is what masculinity is all about? I would speculate that the gaps in male achievement in American culture that have become so pronounced is partially a product of how masculinity is messaged in the media. Young men uncertain about male behavior often turn to either toxic stereotype thinking or just accept that they are subordinate to women and should just chill with fantasy sports, video games and plenty of alcohol.
I would hope that the companies who pay for these advertisements would be inundated with emails and letters objecting to the way they portray men. I am certain if women found ads offensive to femininity there would be a groundswell of protest. Wake up guys. We need to promote the best of masculinity that provides appropriate role models for young men and boys so that they can take pride in their masculinity without diminishing feminine equality and respectful behavior towards girls and women.