I am not a parent. I have no kids and I probably never will, but parenty-type things are still part of my world. Diaper commercials, screaming children on public transportation and being mowed down and removed forcibly from the pavement by women with prams...I got that shit.
I usually don't get involved in parenty-type things because they are none of my concern. What the hell do I care if the shampoo is tearless? What's wrong with a little crying? WTF else do babies do anyway? Why should bathtime be any different? I'd be all about tearFUL shampoo. I mean, toughen up kid, it only gets worse. See...I obviously don't get it and should never be allowed a human baby of my own.
But I want to weigh in on this...commercial? I mean what is it advertising anyway? That there is a crazy underworld where people with babies fight each other? Is it a public service announcement? If so what is it announcing? That people with new babies are all secretly aggressive douchebags? Or is this just one of those parenty-type things that I just don't understand?
I watched it until the end because I wanted to know the message. I wanted to know why all of these people with small babies were being mean to each other and judging each other and why they wanted us non-baby-havng people to see this really unattractive part of parenting. And then the ad/announcement finished and the tagline appeared: 'Welcome to the Sisterhood of Motherhood.'
What the fresh hell? So if I ever do become pregnant, I have not only the joy of obliterating my vagina to the point of eternal incontinence with another human's head, but I then have to worry about a bunch of asshats who, instead of watching Judge Judy and icing their vaginas with me, will be judging me and my decision to not feed straight from the boob? Sounds terrible. But wait! All is not lost! If your kid is in mortal peril these people who have so much to say about how you raise your kid won't all let it die. Got it.
This ad/announcement is not helpful to current parents either. My main issue is that there are a variety of 'types' of mother portrayed here; 'yoga mom', 'business mom', 'cuddling mom', 'lesbian mom who is also black mom' (nice twofer), 'breastfeeding mom', 'bottle-wielding mom', etc. They are all terrible, of course. All bitchy, and none foster or support any difference outside their own little mommy-communities, but at least this ad/service is acknowledging that there are different types of mothers. However, the piss-poor pool of dads in this work of mediocrity is embarrassing.
The only dad I see is 'J Crew dad' and I find it offensive. This portrayal of fathers as one dimensional supporting characters to the main cast of mothers is not helpful and it's fucking sexist. Why are the men only hanging out together? I know a lot of men who'd be hanging with the yoga moms or the lesbian black moms. They wouldn't all be huddled together in one little group, because men have different personalities and interests besides hanging with other men. Surprise! I want 'biker dad,' 'tattooed dad,' 'hipster dad,' 'business dad,' 'gay dad,' 'hippie dad.' I want all the dads!
We need to recognize that the number of stay-at-home dads has quadrupled in the last 25 years (Dailey 14) and celebrate that. It's insulting that ad/announcements like these still paint a picture that these men are like fucking unicorns and that it's in any way appropriate for them to be isolated from the moms. Parents need to get with the inclusivity. Classes with titles like 'Mommy and Me' wit their crazy gender bias need to staaahp because the more we as a society paint this picture of men who choose to parent as feminized and rare, the harder it will be for us ladies to break the shit out of that glass ceiling.
We need help. From men and men are helping! Men are killing it in the parenting department. Men are choosing to support their families by letting their badass ladies pay the bills while they look after the kids and that is fucking awesome. Let's give these men bigger parts, more faces and more choices.
At first I appreciated that men were even included in the ad/service at all which is sad. But then that sad got trumped by their shitty, shitty tagline. Let's see it again - 'Welcome to the Sisterhood of Motherhood?' So. Much. Gendering. Why? Why not 'Welcome to the Community of Parenting' instead? BOOM! I just rewrote your damn slogan whoever you are that created this diaper filler. You're welcome. It's now an inclusive message that actually makes much more sense combined with your crappy, unhelpful campaign.
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