So…
Eric and I are watching tv and a commercial comes on about rolling over your 401K. The couple in the commercial are middle aged. The wife begins to berate her husband, stating he couldnt roll anything over with a rolling pin and that if (the 401K administrators) could have, they’d have signed his name for him.
This commercial yet again enforced the stereotype of the hapless male and the wife or girlfriend as the superwoman in a relationship. Again, if the commercial had featured a man doing that to his wife or girlfriend, women’s groups would be demanding that the commercial stops airing and the makers of the commercial apologize to women everywhere for the negative portrayal.
Now, before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, think about this easy comedic bit, and the hell that would break loose if the roles were reversed in films, sitcoms, commercials etc.
Eric brought up the example of Hard Candy where a young girl destroys an older man who molested her friend earlier in the film. She does this via torture, mind games, etc. His point was that if the roles were reversed and it was a teenaged boy doing this to an older woman then people would be up in arms about the misogynistic, hurtful portrayal of women.
I think its a really dumb double standard that men can be skewered for the easy laugh or used as easy foils for the latest sitcom, but isnt anyone else tired of this?
Your thoughts, rebuttals, etc??!
