Gillette: Short Film Ad

Gillette has just released a short film ad. It’s aim? To empower men to become the best version of themselves.

This blog is not here to describe the advert itself,

but to shed light on the backlash it has received.

On Youtube, as I write this, the video has received 27,000 likes and 226,000 dislikes. That contrast in itself says alot about how far we have to go in combating toxic masculinity. This advert humanizes men and showcases everyday experiences that both men and women endure that need to change.

Twitter has erupted. Men are threatening to throw their Gillette razors out of the window! Poor guys! To feel so personally attacked by an advert that highlights the exact problem of taking accountability. So by exclaiming that you now “hate” Gillette and their products, you are part of the problem by not realising that the adverts message wasn’t aimed to address “all men” as toxic misogynists, but instead, to reinforce the idea that we all play a part in this. That the way we raise our children and the way we interfere with situations or friends, impacts on the future of how men and women are treated in society. I would go as far as to say that of these men violently typing comment after comment, many are ironically, the ones this advert was aimed at. The ones that think it is fair game to harass women, or as one man writes, “Let’s go beat up some beta males, then on our way home we can harass some girls on the bus.”. They are unknowingly helping to show the magnitude of the problem.

However, there are some brilliant men on twitter writing about how this advert does not offend them. That they were “raised to always try and be better, to treat women with respect and equals… We should expect more from men out there who aren’t living up to that standard.”. Another tweet executed the subject remarkably well by writing, “Imagine being so insecure in your own masculinity that a razor company makes you cower into a ball of rage because they advocate for treating other men and women with respect.” And that’s just it. Some men who have taken to YouTube and Twitter are blaming “Feminazis” and “angry feminists” who want women to “take over”. But this ad focuses equally on women and men and for people to not see that is ignorance at its best. Choosing to only focus on the part that helps you validate yourself and neglect women as equals. Unfortunately, women have also contributed. One woman writes, how she has 3 men in her house, her husband and two sons, and how she will now be throwing away their Gillette razors because “toxic masculinity doesn’t exist”. All of these are damaging to the campaign that Gillette have bravely tried to create awareness for. When men are THREE TIMES more likely to commit suicide than women we cannot pretend that toxic masculinity does not exist.

Feminism is not about ‘men hating’ or ‘superiority’ and I despise anyone that spreads that hatred of men under the label of feminism. That is called Misandry, and has an entirely different objective to that of feminists.

I work in a bar. I know that for every time I am groped, harassed or propositioned, my male colleagues are too. But for me, I feel comfortable to speak out about it, to either put the lecherous man back in his place, or to console a higher member of staff. However, I have noticed that the men who work and are shouted at by women, wolf whistled and bum grabbed, just laugh it off or feel they cannot speak up. I understand that this is not an ‘all male problem’ but an ‘all people problem’ and that is what we aim to change. Just respect for people regardless of gender, age, race, sexual orientation or disability.