As a whatever-gender bio-male, this perfectly describes my experience with the dynamic of masculinity: the dynamic rooted in not just insecurity or fear, but the absolute abject terror of anything less than 100% masculinity. And hence the weakness. There is nowhere to go but down, in their estimation.

Thanks for the precise distillation.

Yogurt commercials are mentioned to suggest that perhaps you, dear reader, are not in the target market for this particular product or advertising campaign.

Finally, let’s talk about erections. There is simply nothing more emasculating than reminding a man that he might not be virile. No one with a penis wants to confront that. A Slim Jim ad thumbs his nose at the Cialis and Viagra ads, by pretending (satire) to pretend (like the big brands) to offer a product which will offer the same results.

And way to derail the entire argument by pointing at cleaning products and yogurt commercials as “far worse.” We’re not talking about those, we’re talking about this; saying someone else is doing something worse so we should focus our attention on that instead is classic derailing. Furthermore, how the hell do yogurt commercials perpetuate stereotypes? Unless you find any commercial where everyone is a woman to be inherently distasteful?

– The “bombardment of Viagra and Cialis advertisements to which men are subjected” – what? How the hell do these commercials qualify as something that the poor menz are subjected to?

– I have no idea what your argument is in regards to the “it’s so moist” line, so I’m passing this by.

– Do you know what the ratio of male to female nurses actually is? No? Then you saying that having a male nurse is actually super progressive is ridiculous.

– Actually, a lot of people iron jeans; a lot of women, particularly. So if by “strange” you mean “stereotypically girly,” then sure.

– Hyper-masculinity is exactly the problem with this commercial; when’s the last time you saw a commercial tell its audience “buy our product and become the object of ridicule!”? It never happens; the goal of any commercial is to imply that by purchasing a product, the consumer will become better in some way. So it stands to reason that Slim Jim’s is actually saying, “Yes, you do need a mustache, a captain’s hat, and a turtleneck, and also a Slim Jim, in order to be acceptably male.”

Next time you have an opinion about how some woman is ruining patriarchy for you, do your research.

Yogurt commercials and cleaning product commercials are far worse in perpetuating gender stereotypes and constructs.

Furthermore, the spots serve to deconstruct gender. Here are a few ways:

–  “Male Spice Loss” is itself a play on ‘erectile dysfunction,’ and harks to the bombardment of Viagra and Cialis advertisements to which men are subjected.

–  Two of the spots end with the revived men saying in a polite, soft way, “It’s so… moist.”

–  Did you notice that in both “Intensive Care” and “Waiting Room,” male characters portray nurses?

–  Ironing isn’t the problem – ironing jeans is the problem. Jeans rarely need to be ironed. It would be strange to iron jeans.

–  The men doing the reviving are hyper-masculine, to the point of charicature. Do you need a mustache, captain’s hat, and turtleneck to pilot an airboat?

If anyone’s perpetuating the adult game of cooties, it’s Gwen Sharp.

Not sure how you took this as an iteration of the ‘just a joke’ argument (which I agree is deplorable and useless when it occurs)… I just think you might have knee-jerked on this one…

I am not an alternate account for Decious BTW