This Powerful 1-Minute Ad Will Never Be Shown In The United States<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surprisingly, it\u2019s an ad by Pantene, but it\u2019s not like any other ad I\u2019ve seen from a company like this.<\/p>\n

It is being shown in the Philippines, but can you imagine if the networks here in the United States ever tried to put it on during prime time? Parts of our culture would totally blow a gasket.<\/p>\n

(Read the rest here)<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Problem solved! I was never pretending sexism doesn\u2019t exist. Just this week, I got into a discussion on Facebook in which I was told that women should stop trying to compete intellectually with men. Men\u2019s brains are 11% (11%!!!) bigger than women\u2019s, therefore equality between the sexes is impossible. Money quote: \u201cMen have brains, women have wombs.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
Oh, yeah. Sexism exists. I know.<\/p>\n
Now, take a look at the one-minute ad in the link.<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\n(I just sucked one minute of your life away!<\/em>)<\/p>\nIt\u2019s a series of shots of men and women doing the exact same things, but being labeled differently: the men are praised; the women are shamed. Sexism, right? How dare they. Women can do the same jobs as men, and do them just as well, and it\u2019s sexist to try and keep them from doing those jobs. Right? Sexist?<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/you-keep-using-that-word.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2788\" title=\"you keep using that word\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/you-keep-using-that-word.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"210\"><\/a><\/p>\nThe Pantene ad starts with a man giving instructions, with the word \u201cboss\u201d in the background, and then switches to the woman giving instructions, and the word changes to \u201cbossy.\u201d It\u2019s cleverly done. Man giving speech: \u201cpersuasive.\u201d Woman giving speech: \u201cpushy.\u201d (Those sexist jerks are really sexist<\/em>.) And then the man works late, with baby bottles on his desk, but the crib mobile spells out \u201cdedicated.\u201d When the woman works late with the baby bottles, she\u2019s \u201cselfish.\u201d Man and woman getting ready in the morning: man is \u201cneat\u201d but woman is \u201cvain.\u201d And then there the finale, the big finish. Man walking across the street and straightening his jacket is \u201csmooth,\u201d but the woman walking across the street and taking her jacket off is a \u201cshow-off.\u201d But who the hell cares? She\u2019s so amazingly beautiful, with such shiny hair<\/em>, that these sexist labels can\u2019t hold her back. Who cares if she\u2019s showing off? She\u2019s got plenty to show off, and if you got it, flaunt it! That\u2019s what my best friend\u2019s mom always said. About boobs. So go on, sister, flaunt your shiny hair that Pantene gave you. It\u2019s okay to show off!<\/p>\nOh, wait. No, no, it isn\u2019t okay to show-off. It\u2019s conceited and ill-mannered. Just like when the guy does it. And seriously, guys, does that ever work? I\u2019ve seen a number of you do it, and it always looks terrible. Do you have any success with moves like that? Obvious, overt, self-satisfied moves? No?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2789\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2789\" style=\"width: 409px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/grand-entrance.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2789\" title=\"grand entrance\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/grand-entrance.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"409\" height=\"225\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2789\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Let\u2019s be honest, there\u2019s only one Columbo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThen why the hell are we suggesting women should do them, too? Oh, right, sexism. Women should show off because sexism. Because men are allowed to, and women have even more to show off, so it should be okay for us, too.<\/p>\nWait, wait: I missed the part where it\u2019s okay for men to act like that. I missed the part where it\u2019s okay for a father to work long hours to get ahead, while neglecting his family. (The word in the ad wasn\u2019t \u201cdesperate\u201d or \u201cproviding\u201d; this guy is working for a promotion, not to make ends meet.) I missed the part where pushy speeches are nice, and I don\u2019t believe for a moment that the guy wasn\u2019t as pushy as the girl. My husband says I\u2019m allergic to sales-pitches: I\u2019m breaking out in hives for one I can\u2019t even hear. But in my defense, I\u2019ve never heard one that wasn\u2019t pushy and manipulative. I haven\u2019t heard \u201cpersuasive\u201d since a grad-school course in rhetoric. The guy in the ad? Pushy. Just like the girl. Sexism! She should be praised for persuasion, too! And dedication. Just like he is. She should get to be a jerk, too!<\/p>\nYeah. Okay, here\u2019s the thing: I don\u2019t want to be a jerk. I mean, I am, but I don\u2019t want to be. I don\u2019t want to give speeches that make me break out in hives. I don\u2019t want that, and I don\u2019t think I should want it. But Pantene thinks I should want it. Pantene: a shampoo company. A hair-care product company. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pantene.com\/en-US\/looks\/beach-waves.aspx\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">A company that suggests I take eight steps (and three of their products) to get my look.<\/a><\/p>\nPantene wants me to be liberated, so that labels won\u2019t hold me back. Except labels like \u201cThe Free Wave,\u201d which I refer to as \u201cSleeping On Wet Hair.\u201d But that label will somehow liberate me, right? After I\u2019ve bought my products? Right? Sexism?<\/p>\nPantene, in this ad, says that I should want to be a jerk, because men are allowed to be jerks. And look at that last jerk: he\u2019s sexy! We all know jerks are sexy! And if we women become jerks, we can be sexy, too! At last! Freedom!<\/p>\nDamn right, sexism.<\/p>\nWhat are the dangers of the fire-swamp? Well, we can avoid the popping-noises of the flame wars. Sure, by all means, let\u2019s have a knock-down drag-out Facebook fight over whether it\u2019s right to hold women to a different standard. But we all know better than to do that, either the double standard or the Facebook fight. And we won\u2019t go down the lightning-sand hole of trying to define women and men and their natures and differences and their respective mystiques. But what about the ROUSs, the Rodents of Unusual Size?<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/ROUS-gif.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2791\" title=\"ROUS gif\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/ROUS-gif.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"271\"><\/a><\/p>\nI believe sexism exists, but it isn\u2019t in the labels of \u201cboss\u201d and \u201cbossy.\u201d The real rat here is Pantene. There you are, walking along the internet, and suddenly this giant marketing rat jumps out and knocks you down. \u201cSexism,\u201d it growls, \u201csexism!\u201d Meanwhile, it\u2019s busy biting your shoulder. And what\u2019s the poison in the wound? Men. \u201cLook how sexy men are,\u201d it whispers. \u201cEveryone loves them. Everyone hates you. If only you were more like men. But pretty, like women. You can be both! You can be all the vain, selfish things you want to be, because they are. And if you were more like them, we\u2019d love you more. And you\u2019d love you more. And this shampoo will finally make you lovable.\u201d<\/p>\nBut according to this commercial, men are bossy. And pushy, selfish, vain, and show-offy. Sexism is Pantene saying that we mustn\u2019t question vice, because men are jerks, and men are good. We mustn\u2019t ask whether it is right for a man to ignore his family, or show off, because that would actually lead us somewhere. We mustn\u2019t worry our pretty little heads over whether we really need to imitate bad behavior, jump off a bridge because everybody else is doing it, or use three hair-care products and eight steps to look like we slept on wet hair. And above all, we must not sleep on wet hair<\/em>. That would be bad. We must be vain. We must.\u00a0<\/em>We must keep buying shampoo. <\/em>Because then men will finally love us, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.<\/strong><\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/wesley-bowing.gif\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2792\" title=\"wesley bowing\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/225\/2013\/12\/wesley-bowing.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"410\" height=\"221\"><\/a><\/p>\nI know sexism exists. Sexism is putting badly-behaving men on a pedestal, and telling women they should be there, too. Sexism is saying that women will finally be accepted (read: sexually desirable) when they act like jerks. Ah, then we\u2019ll be loved! And shampoo will get us up to the top of the pedestal, as long as we keep buying it. But when we get there, we\u2019ll only find another pedestal, and another bottle of shampoo. And we\u2019ll keep wondering why we aren\u2019t loved. And we\u2019ll keep not asking if the men are loved, or if lame crosswalk moves work. We\u2019ll keep not worrying our pretty, shiny, sexy heads. But as long as we keep buying the shampoo, it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\nSomebody stab this freaking rat, already.<\/p>\nAdvertisements aren\u2019t out to change the status quo; they\u2019re there to preserve it.<\/strong> And the status quo is insecure women looking for approval at the top of a pedestal.<\/strong> Nobody belongs up there. Men should not be loved for their jerky behaviors. In fact, they aren\u2019t. And we won\u2019t be loved for them, even if we end up with the same \u201cnice\u201d labels. We won\u2019t be loved for our beachy hair. We won\u2019t be loved for anything but ourselves. Step away from the pedestal; there\u2019s nothing up there.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is a guest post I begged a friend of mine to write, when she unleashed her brilliance on facebook. Not only did she write it, but she wove in Princess Bride references! It\u2019s like a blogging Christmas present! Rodents of Unusual Size by Kate Bluett \u00a0A friend of mine posted the following link with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[264,265,263],"class_list":["post-2786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-advertising","tag-guest-posts","tag-sexism"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Sexism Sells Shampoo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is a guest post I begged a friend of mine to write, when she unleashed her brilliance on facebook. 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