My husband has been saying this for a long time now, and I’m beginning to notice it more and more. Everywhere, movies, TV commercials and radio spots, you see men depicted as ditzy, inept and foolish. This really bothers me. Where I notice it most is on radio commercials where there is usually a 30 second ad-skit and the guy always, without fail, comes out looking like a total idiot. The woman, on the otherhand comes across as domineering, overpowering and of course, light years ahead of him intellectually.
This is embarrassing to me, and as the mother of 4 males, 2 of which are already young men, this has me concerned for them and how they end up perceiving themselves and how others might perceive them as well. I asked my husband why he gets so angry when he witnesses these things. Is it because they makes him feel less masculine and stupid, and his response to me was no. He doesn’t feel his masculinity is threatened, because he grew up feeing secure in his skin because of the way society was. Instead, he is concerned for young guys growing up with the new stigma of being a ditz-that women somehow have it all figured out, and if it weren’t for women, men would be walking around aimlessly, like blubbering idiots wondering what to do next, until a woman came along to direct them. That might sound a little exaggerated, but I get his point none the less.
Have any of you noticed this? I personally hate it. On the other hand, I didn’t like it that women in the past were generally treated as sexy twits, who were seemingly born to serve men, to take care of their every want and need. That, as we all know, was the general way women were portrayed in the past, and are still today. There needs to be some balance representing the sexes. Generally speaking, I don’t like the perception out there that says for me to rise to my full potential, I have to step on a man’s head on the way up and cause him humiliation. I want to get there on my own terms, and I don’t need to make a man feel dumb to achieve my goals, or more importantly, to prove I’m worthy and smart.
As a woman, in my opinion, it’s not sexy to be with a ditzy guy. I want my men to be tall, dark, handsome, strong, smart and protective. Sorry if that isn’t very women’s libby. I’m not a feminist, I guess. I’m a traditionalist with a twist.
My husband is very quick to pick up a plot leading in that direction, and he gets so pissed off at what he’s seeing that most of the time, he can’t go on and enjoy the rest of the movie. Lately, it’s as if the woman is always coming out on top and it makes the man look stupid while she’s getting there. For some reason, she’s got to out smart the guy, or come out the superior one. It doesn’t seem like the men are the smart ones anymore in movies, unless it’s a male dominated cast, then there might be a brilliant or lucky guy who is the hero. I don’t have a problem with women being portrayed to be smarter than guys, because, let’s face it, just like there are some ditzy gals out there, there is an equal amount of stupid men out there to match them. What I don’t like is how it is rubbed in our face. When it comes down to it, there’s many brilliant guys and just as many intelligent women. In the movies and commercials, as in life, there absolutely needs to be balance. I don’t want my kids to grow up with this mentality and end up being immasculated or disparaging towards men. Just like I wouldn’t want my daughter to be around chauvinistic or condescending men, it’s not right that women are taking on this attitude toward the opposite sex.
Let’s face it, if women are whitty enough to out smart men in the movies and in real life, than we should be clever enough to use our brains to do it in such a way that the guys don’t even realize we’re doing it. Now, that’s a savy chick. Imagine, we’d just leave them standing there, all stunned, but feeling smart anyway. Com’on Hollywood, I challenge you!
Why Jane 