Gender Studies and Gillette

Name: Institution Affiliation: Instructor: Course: Date: Gender Studies and Gillette Introduction The Gillette Company produces and sells shaving products which included razors, blades, pre and post-shave products such as shaving creams and gels and other skin care products that are essential for use after shaving. For many years, the company has dominated the world markets through its innovative marketing tactics. Additionally, the company has also used famous people such as celebrities to advertise its products. Recently, Gillette released a new ad “We Believe” which has replaced the old slogan “The Best a Man Can Get” which has been used for about thirty years. This paper examines and explains why this new ad campaign contains a great message. The new advertisement video shows diverse features that can be related to toxic masculinity. The ad displays boys getting bullied, young people watching media representatives of macho guys objectifying women, and images of men looking at the mirror when the news report about the #MeToo movement and toxic masculinity are playing in the background. Also, a voiceover is even heard asking “Is this the best a man can get?” This ad has caused an uproar causing both positive and negative criticism. The men’s rights activists have called for boycotting Gillette products citing the advertisement as an insult to men since not all men are involved in the behaviors portrayed in the short video. On the other side, some people have strongly supported the message contained in the ad since men should set good examples for the future generation. Masculinity is a socially constructed concepts that describe how a man should be and how he should act. The society holds the views that boys and men should be active, aggressive tough and dominant. Discussions about toxic masculinity have increased on media platforms in the last few years. It is keynoting that the construction of masculinity is bad for the women because it portrays the man in patriarchal behaviors including being violent to people of the opposite gender (Flood, p.2). This plays a significant role in contributing to gender inequalities and privilege men while they disadvantage women. Additionally, toxic masculinity may also prove to be bad for men because the stereotypical norm may constrain their physical and emotional well-being which may significantly affect their relationship with both women and men. It is essential to pinpoint that for a very long time, media and advertising has played a significant role in fortifying and strengthening the narrow trilogy that depicts a man; physical strength, economic provider and a sex conqueror. This kind of representation is restricting and in most cases, it may be exaggerated. For several years, Gillette ads have presented men in a manner that champions masculinity. However, the new commercial has portrayed men in a different way which is more responsible, and I believe that more adverts of this nature are required since they have a considerable influence on the existing social and cultural norms. By concisely identifying the situations where men have acted in a manner that results to harm and on the other side highlighting cases when he has behaved respectively should not make leave men ups...