I was going to post something inspirational today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but I feel like he’s better honored by discussing an important social issue.
The embedded video at the top of this post is an advertisement from Gillette. You’ve probably seen it. If you haven’t, take the minute and 48 seconds it takes to watch it.
When I first saw this video, I was impressed that Gillette, the company that has claimed itself as “The Best a Man Can Get” decided to pose the question – is this the best we men can be? The ad challenges us to be better.
What surprised me was the backlash from men. I’m not naive enough to believe that there aren’t men out there who are Neanderthal enough to have those sorts of negative thoughts, but I guess I was naive enough to think they’d be embarrassed to express them in a public forum. Really, guys? You want to come out for bullying, violence, and sexual harassment? Seriously? I’m gonna say it outright: What the fuck is wrong with you?
Before you dismiss me as some pansy liberal snowflake blogger, I want to offer you something – I’m as much of a traditional guy’s guy as you can imagine. I’m an active motorcycle rider and former racer. (Former may be changing soon… more on that later.) I’m a serious weightlifter. I like to hit the heavy bag for cardio, and as a younger man, I was known to use my fists in anger. I’m a gearhead, and can tear apart an engine and put it back together as good as the next guy. I drive a muscle car. I’m practically the poster child for the cis-hetero macho privileged white guy. If you see yourself in me, and your reaction to this ad was that you’re going to toss your Gillette Mach 3 and Gillette shave cream in the trash, and that Gillette is saying that masculinity is bad, then you should turn in your man card.
Yes, I’m serious. Ask yourself what’s wrong with policing our own bad behavior. What’s wrong with protecting those weaker than us? What’s wrong with preventing violence? What’s wrong with respecting all people regardless of their gender?
There's nothing wrong with being a man or being masculine. What's wrong is embracing the same old tropes that make us violent, stupid, and mean. Click To TweetThere’s nothing wrong with being a man. There’s nothing wrong with being masculine. What’s wrong is embracing the same old bullshit tropes that make us violent, stupid, and mean.