Girls have always been made weaker than boys by the prejudices of people. "You cry like a girl" or "You throw like a girl" are just a few of the sentences children here a lot and not with a positive meaning. Boys are supposed to be the stronger sex, but is that fair? Fair to the children growing up absolutely happy about who they are, but then learning that they are actually just "running like a girl"?
In my opinion this is an actual disaster to many of our children. Bullying is one of the biggest problems we have in the education system. Schools are places for bullying and this word-group is just one of the many ways to diss someone. Children are most of the time naturally proud of their sex and believe that they are the strongest person who can do anything in life. Children dream big, but this "like a girl" with a negative connotation is just opposing the freedom. And I do believe that we have to stop this. One way or another.
This recent video sponsored and made by Always is a great way to start the conversation. It opens up everybody's eyes and focusses on a very important group of girls. The campaign is empowering young girls to believe in themselves and not be demoralized and bullied by people saying "You run like a girl". Girls are encouraged to stand up for how they run, throw or do anything in life. One of the older girls says this as an advice to younger girls watching this:
"Keep doing it, because it is working... Yes I kick like a girl and Swim like a girl and walk like a girl and I wake up in the morning like a girl, because I am a girl. And that´s not something that I should be ashamed of. So I am going to do it anyway."
This statement is so powerful and it sums up the message the video is supposed to deliver. It is a great message!
As you probably understood from the earlier paragraphs I believe that this commercial is a good thing. I believe that the message and the idea behind it is very good, but I am not sure if I can trust it. I would like to know if these messages of the girls are scripted or if they are actual statements by these children. I would also like to see more than two boys in this video. I feel this is a great beginning, but it is not thought through. Maybe it is just me being paranoid and looking for the scripted commercial message after taking this class on consumer culture, but I am not sure if this is real. It is too good. So can I trust that Always didn't just make this up to promote their brand as a great advocate for women´s and girl´s power? I am not sure anymore.
It's certainly a good message--and I showed it to my kids, who had a lot to say about it. But we should always be on the lookout for advertising, and resist the subterranean message implied here, that Always *cares* about us, and about gender politics. There might be a couple of ad execs who put in some actual care and thought here, but I'm sure they had to run the numbers to make sure that an ad like this would sell more pads. It's all about the bottom line.
ReplyDelete