Stop Dissing Men!

I am just disgusted by the trend in advertising (and in television programming) that portrays men as idiots. I realize that some of it is continuing backlash from the feminist notion that we need to have more intelligent women in media. I can accept that—certainly there is more to the world of women than “dumb blondes” and “ditzy chicks.” But do we have to increase the presence of smart women by making men look stupid? And if we do tolerate or condone the “stupid guy” trend, are we not committing the same offense against them that the feminists claim was committed against women? How does that make everything equal?

Some examples … though I’m sure my readers don’t really need them. You can probably think of plenty on your own.

•  The Sonic commercials. All of them. Both the ones where it’s two guys in a car, and the ones where it’s a guy and a girl. I see those stupid commercials and I want to reach through the television screen and start ripping people’s throats out. They are so rude and stupid. I don’t know any men who are as stupid as the guys portrayed in those commercials. And I doubt that I am all that sheltered. I have known some pretty incredibly stupid people in my life.
•  The radio commercial in which the guy’s GPS (in a sexy female voice) tells him that he would get lost in his own driveway. Now, please. That’s just hateful.
•  The insurance and investing commercials where the guy sits there looking dazed and confused while his wife spouts a lot of statistics and facts. I don’t doubt that there are families in which the wife is more knowledgeable about investing or insurance or what-have-you. But could we have a little balance? Some commercials with dazed-looking women and fact-spouting men, to complement the dazed-looking men and fact-spouting women?
•  The Yoplait commercials where the guy is digging in the fridge trying to find the key-lime pie his wife just mentioned to the friend she’s talking to on the phone, while the key-lime flavoured Yoplait is on the shelf in front of him. Or the other one where the guy is on the phone bragging to his buddy about how he’s been eating key-lime pie (or some other flavour) and his wife gets out a Yoplait, listens to him lying to his buddy, and gives him “the look” and he’s like, “I gotta go.”

These commercials just make men look like idiots and jerks. And the thing is, if they did similar commercials where women were the brunt of these kinds of jokes, where women were made to look bitchy or ditzy or insensitive, women would not be laughing. They’d be protesting the perpetuation of unflattering and inaccurate stereotypes.

I’m thinking of two things here. First, the Golden Rule. If you wouldn’t like for someone to say something to or about you, or if you wouldn’t like to see yourself portrayed in a certain light, then you shouldn’t do it to others. If you wouldn’t laugh if it happened to you, you shouldn’t laugh when it happens to someone else (even if it’s staged). Second, true equality. If we’re going to portray one group of people in a certain way, then all groups of people should be in for the same treatment. If we women want equal treatment, and we’re going to laugh at these kinds of portrayals of men, then we cannot get angry when we are portrayed as dumb blondes, or mechanically inept, or whatever.

All I’m asking is that the advertising and marketing people stop trying to make me laugh at the expense of someone else. There are plenty of opportunities for humour in life without our having to stoop to rudeness or to picking on people.

And I will let you in on a little secret: I don’t think your clients are paying you to offend their customers and drive them away, and those kinds of commercials and ads quite often make me stop doing business with the company. I don’t approve of rudeness, disrespect, or cruelty, and I won’t condone such behaviour in others.

Tags: advertising, Entertainment, gender equality, kindness, men, Philosophy, stereotypes, women