Men Learning from Women, Calling Out Gender Stereotypes
I was just going to sign off for the day when I came across a post on an Arizona college newspaper’s site that compelled me to get my thoughts down. “Trucks destroy the idea of manhood” by Jason Hagerty brings up a few points I’ve tried to make myself for a few years now. Gender stereotypes are an equal opportunity message killer.
Here’s an excerpt:
A number of truck commercials have begun to market their vehicles as being the epitome of what a true man needs. If it’s big, tough and can get the job done, then it’s for real men. These stereotypes aren’t exactly new to media, especially not in truck commercials.
If the commercials had stopped there, they’d still remain somewhere in the realm of our biased norm. But as with anything truly manly, Chevy decided they had to take it to the extreme.
Let’s take a look at Ford and their F-150. They had the foresight to include a small step that would help truck owners enter and exit the bed of the vehicle. A pretty obvious step forward if you ask me, seeing as many trucks have included small steps to enter their cabin for quite some time now.
While this could have been an outstanding opportunity for truck companies to come together and help make trucks more accessible, it turned out that such a wonderful future simply can’t exist.
Instead, Chevy decided to openly mock Ford Motors, calling the step a “man-step” and poking fun at any real man who would ever possess such a thing. Real men claim they don’t need a man-step, as though manhood becomes null and void the second you buy a truck with a step on its bed.
***
Consider Jason a particularly perceptive male voice of the younger generation of consumers. Any twenty-first century marketing or advertising professional should take note of his thoughts (or hire him):
1) Guys today don’t relate to the traditional view of “manhood,” and the ridiculous notion that F150s (or Chevy trucks) express it best.
2) Guys today are sick of media/culture representing them as idiots or via stereotypes that have nothing to do with their daily lives.
Sound familiar? It looks like marketers have done it again. They’ve ignored the long-time coming signs, taken the lazy way out, and lost touch with their core customer. Now, that customer is peeved and starting to talk loudly about it. He is calling out lame media and ad campaign representations that have stereotyped his gender down to a macho caricature.
Isn’t that a lot like what women experienced for decades? They’ve come a long way in standing up for themselves, putting a stop to the madness and forcing media and advertisers to change their ways. And, now guys are taking their cue from women’s “assertive consumer” stance. No more just shrugging shoulders and assuming nothing can be done. More consumers today, male and female, understand they have the power to say no to such beyond recognition stereotyping. They are spreading the bad word on brands and it is influencing their purchases (or lack thereof).
Gender stereotyping is absolutely an equal opportunity mistake. The younger generations of consumers most marketers want to reach, no matter their gender, are even more likely to ignore brands that make it. Mark Jason’s words.
Pingback: Gender Stereotypes Are Making Men Angry | The Achilles Effect