In November Pantene released a commercial that became a huge hit on social media sites. This commercial showed the inconstancies of labels used for men and women who have the exact same characteristic. This includes being someone’s boss, working late at night, caring about your appearance, giving a political speech and more. If you have not seen the video please watch it here and then continue reading.
This video does a great job of visually showing how labels are used differently for men as opposed to women. This is not always the case, but is certainly something that is prevalent in our culture. Women should act a certain way and men another. This video points out the places where it is acceptable for a man to act a certain way but it is not ok for a woman. One label that stands out to me the most is the first one shown, where a man is a “boss” but a woman is “bossy.” This often connects to the idea that when a man is mean, he is just tough but when a woman is mean she is just a bitch. Why do we still think of women in charge as a bad thing? Women who take charge and lead are being considered bossy and controlling, yet that is not the case for men, they are supposed to be leaders. This is something that we need to work to change in this society. To do that, women need to continue to push the envelope and take jobs as CEOs, managerial positions and any other position where they can show their leadership skills. Women, just as men, have every right to be in a position of power if they have earned their place.
Another double standard in this video that stands out to me is the “dedicated” vs “selfish” idea. If a women is working all night and not at home with her family it is automatically considered selfish because she is not giving up her job for her family. But it has never been that way for men. When there is a new baby in the house, rarely, if ever, is a man asked if he will be a stay at home dad. Staying home or taking care of the children has never been a job reserved for men. A man is considered dedicated for working late into the night and not at home with his family. I believe certain stereotypes like this really need to be reevaluated. Each couple should have the right to decide who takes care of the children and when. Unfortunately it is not that easy as social pressures constantly make women feel guilty for being a work-a-holic or dedicated to their career.
A question that this video invokes for me is, why? Why is it that men and women can act the exact same way but be labeled very differently? The answer seems to be history. Historically women have taken a back seat to their “male betters.” Until recently the idea for women to have power over men and to not stay at home with the children has been simply unfathomable. However, we need to consider that history is important and is always going to influence the present, but history does not have to define the present. We do not need to follow the examples of the past simply because they are the past. We have a right to change our history for future generations.
I really appreciate the message that the Pantene commercial ends with: “Don’t let labels hold you back.” It is a great and incredibly important message for young girls and women to hear. Women are constantly being told what roles are acceptable to embrace and what roles are not. But women need to be told that they can push pass those labels and that those labels do not define who they are. The women of the current generation are in charge of pushing past these boundaries. As we graduate college and move onto careers, graduate schools and life outside of an education bubble we need to make sure we are not just letting the past label who we are. We should get to define who we are and break all the previous labels that we do not agree with. We need to not let labels define us but let us define them!
Photo Credits: Bossy Woman, Selfish Woman