Commercials are designed to be annoying and distracting, but they’re often my favorite part of the show. They’re an interesting snapshot of what life is actually like, and when it gets close to Valentine’s Day, those snapshots are horrifying. Even though it’s 2010, are we really so stuck in gender roles from centuries ago that we cannot crawl beyond the cheapest, easiest representations of manhood and womanhood?
If the commercials are any indication, the answer is yes. In addition to being oppressively white and heterosexual, the shamelessness with which the marketing people bang the hell out of the gender stereotype drums is shocking to even someone as cynical as me. As I write this, I am going to pretend for a moment that I was just beamed in from another sphere and have formed my impression of the world based solely on the commercials I’ve heard during the past two weeks:
· Men are kind of dumb
· Women are kind of shrill
· Men speak in words containing no more than two syllables
· Women always have a hidden agenda
· Women usually try to trick the man in their life into something without him realizing it
· Which isn’t too hard (see bullet point number one)
· Women nag, especially about house projects
· Women are interested primarily in things
· Men have a serious problem remembering dates
· Even though they have the real power, men are afraid of women (isn’t that funny?)
· More than a good orgasm, women love a good sale
· Men prefer spending time with their "buddies," which makes me wonder if
· Men are gay
If the commercials are any indication, the answer is yes. In addition to being oppressively white and heterosexual, the shamelessness with which the marketing people bang the hell out of the gender stereotype drums is shocking to even someone as cynical as me. As I write this, I am going to pretend for a moment that I was just beamed in from another sphere and have formed my impression of the world based solely on the commercials I’ve heard during the past two weeks:
· Men are kind of dumb
· Women are kind of shrill
· Men speak in words containing no more than two syllables
· Women always have a hidden agenda
· Women usually try to trick the man in their life into something without him realizing it
· Which isn’t too hard (see bullet point number one)
· Women nag, especially about house projects
· Women are interested primarily in things
· Men have a serious problem remembering dates
· Even though they have the real power, men are afraid of women (isn’t that funny?)
· More than a good orgasm, women love a good sale
· Men prefer spending time with their "buddies," which makes me wonder if
· Men are gay
