While watching television tonight, I couldn’t help but notice that every single commercial — along with most nightly sitcoms — portray men (and husbands) as stupid and women (and wives) as intelligent. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had seen such commercials for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it started with Homer Simpson before spreading to any dating service, all dating websites, and any dating agency.
It seems I’m not the only one (see here as well). Has anyone else noticed this? I wonder: Why is this a trend in advertising?
I see several possibilities: 1.) Today’s politically-correct climate makes it impossible to make fun of women (and, let’s face it, marketers exploit generalizations); 2.) Fewer men are watching television, so advertisers increasingly ignore them; and 3.) Women in households make most consumer purchases, so marketing professionals focus on them.
Are there any other reasons?
Related: Men Versus Women and “Tell Them About the Discount, Harry!” Essay: The Battle of the Sexes. Elsewhere: The Times of London looks into the anti-male bias in advertising.
Tags: dating service, dating websites, dating agency, online dating dating, dating rooms, christian singles dating, singles online dating, new york dating services, boston dating, nyc dating
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’cause it’s funny? Jeff(Quote)
It would also be funny to make fun of women — but that never occurs, for some reason. Samuel J. Scott(Quote)
Well, you didn’t ask that question, did you? Jeff(Quote)
Men are portrayed as idiots to cammoflage the imbalance of power and wealth in our society. Furthermore, I think, it seems like a way to seem equal or fair: idiocy as the counterbalance for sexism.
Great site. westernqueensland(Quote)
It is a way to de-masculinize men and destroy their self esteem which is in part a way to destroy the family and eventually our society as you can see by all the evil we now have in this society. The media is just too ignorant to realize or don’t care that they are being used to accomplish it. Denise(Quote)
to be fair, women are portrayed as being intelligent about cleaning toilets and garbage cans.
The ‘doctor’ with the trustworthy face is always a man.
I seriously doubt men are watching less TV, unless they are splitting time with internet porn. Ray(Quote)
you are the idiot here
women are portrayed as housewives and cleaners on ads
but theyre also portrayed as dentists etc
men are portrayed as idiots, etc
but theyre also portrayed as doctors, scientists, dentists, professors, workers, etc
&& + im pretty sure men design and make decisions on ads like the ones you are complaining about just as much as women do
& hey, the ads have caught your attention havent they?
that is the purpose of an ad
duh. bek(Quote)
look on the bright side
its an ad…
get over it! me again(Quote)
who says women watch more tv than men?
who says women arent portrayed as idiots too?
i say your sexist
against women
get away from me
youre one of them people that think men are better than women
this is my opinion
what sort of topic is this? george(Quote)
George,
who says women watch more tv than men?
Market research.
who says women arent portrayed as idiots too?
Watch American prime-time sitcoms and commercials sometime.
I say your sexist
I say you don’t know proper grammar.
Get away from me
Uh, you’re the one who came to my blog.
Youre one of them people that think men are better than women
Show me one place where I said that.
this is my opinion
Yeah, I hadn’t realized that.
what sort of topic is this?
Read the subject line of this post. Sam Scott(Quote)
Hi, my name is Dermot and I drew that picture of Homer Simpson, I never thought it’d be used so much, I really am quite flattered Dermot(Quote)
Satan is behind the media, as you can see. By the programs on TV the internet mags.
Denise made the best comment on this issue. By brakeing down the man which is
supposed to set the example,led,teach and protect the family with the wifes help I might
add. You put the women in an unnatural position. Same thing with the male. When the
family breaks down,so does socity.Satan is out to get as many as he can. Beware!!! JW’s(Quote)
I used to work in the media. So, I was in hell? Well, that explains a few things… Sam Scott(Quote)
I think advertising is becoming more insulting in general, too. julie(Quote)
Like a lot of things in society, there are multiple answers to multiple scenarios. I think we can narrow the discussion a bit. If you are talking about the husband who can’t clean, or the man who doesn’t pick the correct snack bar, I would assume the primary market for the product tends to be women. Men have been notoriously difficult to reach for healthy foods, cloths and most household products. Although you will always find exceptions, the primary consumer for all of the above tend to be women. Even in many marriages, I find women will typically buy the food, get the cleaning supplies and even buy cloths for their husband. As a advertiser, who will you go after, a niche market or main market? I see it is easier for advertisers to objectify women in ads than have them appear stupid or self deprecating. I am not saying I agree or support any of the behavior. This is just what I see. Steve(Quote)
I’ve noticed the same thing. I think they’re trying to make up for all the sexism women has experienced over the years. I don’t mind men playing bimbos but we don’t have as much fun as women do. Think about the old movie stars, Lauren Bacall, Tallulah Bankhead, Marilyn Monroe. They may have been playing wives or sex objects, but they were sultry and cool. Men are just dumb, that’s all. I wish we would have much fun as the women.
Men being dumb in commercials nowadays is noticeable, but whenever somebody brings this up it makes people mad (especially male feminist). Steven wynn(Quote)
Wome have always controlled the world, femminism was actually a bad idea and it set women back. By making men believe that they are abusing women, controll goes back to the women. Femminizimg men, taking away their self esteem is just part of the plan… RBarrios(Quote)
Sorry for the spelling, sometimes my maiden tongue strears me… RBarrios(Quote)
The way men are portrayed in ads and media is just a hyperbolic representation of how they are in real life. Its exaggerated but people are laughing at the grains of truth to it. Its a winning marketing strategy because people, men and women both, identify with it. There are plenty of instances in which women are made fun of, but in contexts where there’s grains of truth to it, and the specific situations you’re complaining about don’t fall in this. If you tried a flipside in which women were the household slobs, most people wouldn’t get it because they wouldn’t identify with such an experience, and don’t laugh. Except for the section of the population which does deal with slobby women, but it isn’t a winning marketing strategy because you want to get the majority rather than the minority. Karey(Quote)
Young boys might take comfort in fantasies of being Superman. For men, perhaps its being the hero of “Die Hard”. It appears that the fantasy figure is inversely proportional to the level of insecurity. When images of women being supremely confident and utterly competent dominate advertising to female consumers and fantasy heroines fly across movie-screen skies, perhaps we should be asking ourselves what it is that they face in the real world which makes such images desirable? Robert(Quote)
The “dumb husband in the kitchen ads” commercials would be easier to take if the wives weren’t invariably presented as eye rolling Superior Beings with a briefcase in one hand and a spatula in the other. This is what makes the mockery in these ads go well beyond comic exaggeration. Even worse are commercials that show children condescending to their fathers, such as Kraft Singles ad with the spoiled brat who squawks “You’re not the one who’s growing, dad,” after he fixes her a sandwich. Carrie(Quote)
I certainly agree that men are often portrayed as idiots to a degree and would say that this is to mask the inherent sexism still present in Western society. I think it is marginally the way people feel anyway: that men or rather husbands are more foolish and less emotionally intelligent than women. Men drink, play sport and fight whilst women drink tea, knit and take care of the kids. Not the case but that is often how things are portrayed. Charlie Edge(Quote)
Men Are Angry at Women « Samuel J. Scott // Nov 22, 2008 at 22:07
I’ve noticed this for years too and it has always annoyed me. Girls are growing up watching this garbage so it’s no surprise that many of them have no respect for men by the time they reach adulthood.
It’s all about appealing to women consumers by pandering to feminist, anti-male ideology because as you said, women make more of the household purchasing decisions than men do. Do you know why “Married With Children” and “All in the Family” were so controversial? In my opinion one of the reasons was because the husbands were clearly brighter than the wives and PC people didn’t like that. Surprisingly they don’t really do this in Soap Operas but then I suppose that a bumbling fool isn’t very sexy. kuunami(Quote)
I boycott companies whose ads are the worst offenders, ie portraying men as idiots.
When women appear in brainless commercials about laundry soap and other houselhold products they are at least portrayed as intelligent people involved with mundane tasks. Warren. S(Quote)
This is something akin to the relatively recent trend in movies to portray the black hero as the long suffering mentor and guardian of the weak, ineffectual, inept and bumbling white guy?
I’m pretty sure that is the result of the fact(?) that more movies are catering to black tastes, probably because most movie-goers now (can this be true?) are black, or because blacks respond better to product placement in movies.
Examples:
‘Hitch’ — Will Smith and Kevin James
‘The Man’ — Samuel Jackson and Eugene Levy
’”Se7en’ — Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt (though more subtle in this one).
Whatever it is, it’s not a true reflection of the society we live in, and, therefore, is a deliberate corruption, for purely material reasons, no doubt.
See also: ‘Why do my son’s books tell him all men are useless?’
http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=948 koyanisqaatsi(Quote)
Really though, is it men who are portrayed as boobs, or white men? That is, are white men the last remaining safe butt for PI jokes? koyanisqaatsi(Quote)
Clumsy Men « Samuel J. Scott // Nov 19, 2009 at 02:50
I haven’t lived in America for two years — as anyone noticed if this is getting any better or worse? Sam Scott(Quote)
The Battle of the Sexes | Considerations by Samuel J. Scott // Dec 28, 2009 at 04:33
I’ve totally noticed this, but I’ll stop short of putting any judgements as to bad or good or type of meaning behind it. It was glaringly obvious to me during the Super Bowl, where the most masculine figure was a 4 year old boy. I posted a review, http://bit.ly/d8wmWg Meshack(Quote)
Redundant, Oppressed Men | Considerations // Feb 26, 2010 at 08:04
I blame radical feminism. WarrenStefanuk(Quote)
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