Comments on: Gender Non-Conformity in a Tide Ad

By: Iamandipr

Iamandipr — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:23:00 +0000

I am interested in this new emerging trend in advertising. I feel there is a satirical approach to gender roles in current advertising campaigns. If anyone has insight, link to scholarly research on the subject or knows where I can find more information concerning this topic please let me know.

By: Personality Pedagogy Newsletter Volume 6, Number 2, October, 2011 « Personality Pedagogy Newsletters

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:25:22 +0000

[…] 11. Gender Non-Conformity in a Tide Ad […]

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:48:00 +0000

I recently saw another Tide ad in which the opening line was “I’m a stay-at-home-dad.” Tide is obviously doing this with intent, and I think it’s fantastic. I hope it continues.

By: 3023ogilvyd

3023ogilvyd — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:52:00 +0000

I find it interesting that nobody yet has pointed out Tide’s current slogan: “Style is an option. Clean is not.” The previous generation of ads, if I remember correctly, have been used to emphasize the weirdness of particular sartorial choices at the same time that it tries to… I don’t know, manoeuvre Tide into the position of tolerance? ‘I don’t care what kind of shirt it is, I’ll get it clean”? Either way, the previous uses of the slogan give me the impression that the mother is supposed to consider her daughter’s fashion sense to be weird or abnormal.

By: SUSAN KLEMENT

SUSAN KLEMENT — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:46:00 +0000

I actually totally agree with this. I have never tried to be a perfect parent, because I have enough stress without trying to do impossible things. My daughter is a very feminine girly-girl type, she wore dresses every day when she was four. I did have her wear shorts underneath them so that she could still run and play, but other than that, I think that sort of thing is entirely her choice. I do talk to her all the time about feminist topics, and she is now, at 14, pretty feminist herself, although she still loves clothes and dresses and makeup and high heels (which I do kind of hate because of potential posture and feet issues, but I still let her wear sometimes) and all kinds of girly things. I am okay with that, she is her own person and she will like that stuff no matter what I do, so why worry about it? And it if helps her fit in at school during the very difficult middle school years, I am glad about that, too.

By: SUSAN KLEMENT

SUSAN KLEMENT — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:35:00 +0000

Of course not, I think all parents worry about such things. I know I do, and there is nothing shallow about wanting your children to be happy, or acknowledging that we have to find a way to fit into society.

I was saying that I thought some of the mom’s anxiety might be about other mothers judging her parenting abilities, in addition to some of her worries being about her daughter fitting in (a normal thing, and very good if you aren’t trying to pressure your kid to overconform). Also, when talking about something like performing gender, the worries may be more frightening than real–the commercial does not ever say that the girl is ostracized by her peers for her choices, just that they make mom uncomfortable.

I actually think this commercial is commenting on the whole topic pretty thoughtfully as I look at it more closely. As others have said, despite the mom’s discomfort with her daughter’s choices, she clearly is trying to support them (e.g., she hopes that her clothes will be ruined so she will have an excuse to throw them out, but she tries to wash them and keep them good, and she compliments her daughter at the end, even if her compliment lacks enthusiasm). It seems like they are saying some of what you are saying in the post below–kids will be individuals, and sometimes that may be disconcerting, but it isn’t all bad; it just takes some getting used to. I also like that they show that girls can play hard and get dirty, too!

By: Anna

Anna — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:07:00 +0000

This reminds me of how a friend and I would conspire to wear dresses on days they weren’t allowed because of group sports! We would actually be punished/ “exiled” by the teachers, but were okay with being rebels. I also felt so much pressure to not be feminine int his way, from adults and children alike, but I can remember that my feelings toward dresses & skirts were really overwhelming, enough to take risks. My own daughter quickly learned she would be mocked for dresses/skirts at school, and by nature less willing to stand out than I was, she suffers through jeans/tshirts/hoodies that she doesn’t like for the sake of fitting in. I think children quickly intuit the feminine as “mockable,” which is no surprise if you they watching videos like the one of the mother in the commercial, who by her femininity is made to look mostly foolish.

By: Good job not screwing up, Tide ‹ Phire Walk With Me

Good job not screwing up, Tide ‹ Phire Walk With Me — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:22:26 +0000

[…] the opposite: it saves the little girl’s clothes, which the mother kind of wishes had been ruined.Full write-up here. Video to commercial here. Posted by: Phire on October 7, 2011 | Tags: advertising, gender, […]

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:46:00 +0000

I agree, nothing wrong with being trans, or gay, or butch, or whatever label one chooses to place on themselves.
My point was the labeling of a child, the labeling of anyone based on visual or behavioural action.

By: Uly

Uly — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:01:00 +0000

Thank you. I’m sure we’ve all been refreshed and enlightened by your unique point of view.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:33:00 +0000

I’m not sure how old you are, but I can sympathize with this. When I was in grade/middle school, it was terribly unfashionable for girls my age to wear skirts and dresses to anything other than church or a school dance, and even then we preferred nice jeans/khakis with fancy shirts. It was also uncool for a bit to like pink. We didn’t eschew other stereotypically girly things (we all tried to wear makeup and high heels way before our time). Woe be any 10 year old who’s mom forced them into one of those frilly numbers. I just don’t think it was cool in the late 90s and early 2000s for girls to go about decked out in all pink or fluffy dresses. The dresses that were cool were quite sleek (and probably covered in glitter, if not “bohemian”).

By: Mae Spires

Mae Spires — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:43:00 +0000

And we’re all so glad that you came here to share your life with us – your apparently vastly rewarding, fulfilling, and important life consisting of making drive-by, trollish internet comments.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:04:00 +0000

I don’t know the technicalities of it but that advertisement makes me feel really sad.

By: Lesliefraraccio

Lesliefraraccio — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:05:00 +0000

Who the f cares!! It’s a friggin soap commercial .. Get a life!!

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:03:00 +0000

a) There’s nothing wrong with being trans.
b) Gender and behavior are different. If a boy is feminine, he could just be a feminine boy. Or maybe they’re trans. Or any number of possibilities.