Gillette: The Best Men Can Be video

Gillette: The Best Men Can Be video

Is there even a good way to start writing a post like this without sounding like a millennial snowflake with a feminist agenda? Probably not. Do I care? Absolutely not huns.
Today, Gillette released a new video to support their campaign #TheBestMenCanBe. That tagline was created by the brand 30 years ago and they believe that now, that’s become a more aspirational statement. This is especially in light of the number of high profile men being exposed as having been violent towards women, both sexually and otherwise. (It turns out there was a whole other meaning behind ‘there’s nothing wrong with a little bump and grind’, wasn’t there R Kelly?).
I’ll be honest, men are getting a bad rep right now and I cannot stress enough that it’s not all men. It’s a lot of them, but it’s not all of them. That’s my caveat before I get an all caps reply in the comments about how I clearly just hate men. I don’t. I really don’t. In fact, I quite like men.
But the flipside of this is that whilst I know the men I’m surrounded by absolutely respect women, just last week I drove to my local post office at 5:30pm, saw that there were six teenage boys stood hanging around outside it and drove right on as I was too intimidated to park my car, get out and walk past them. Just because I know that the men in my life (friends, family, colleagues etc) are great guys, doesn’t mean that they all are.
A big issue is the number of men who because they personally can’t comprehend hurting a woman, don’t thing about what that threat feels like. Whilst they know that they’re not going to attack the woman they’re walk 10m behind on their way home, it doesn’t mean that she knows it too. Again, this is men getting a bad rep but at least it’s based on ignorance than malice? Is that a comfort? I don’t even know.
The campaign video by Gillette acknowledges and supports the #MeToo movement whereby women have spoken out about the sexual harassment they have been on the receiving end of (something every woman can relate to) and shows men calling out men on shit behaviour. Men setting an example to their children by telling them to be strong and showing them that bullying and fighting isn’t OK. Men stepping in and saying that bullying isn’t OK.
Sounds good, right?
Well, naturally there’s a whole Twittersphere of users with their anonymous profiles threatening to boycott P&G products for life (lol I would like to see you get through your entire life without a touch of dandruff and the need for Head and Shoulders, but OK hun, you go on your boycott) because they believe the message is ‘all men are dickheads’. This is despite the video repeatedly stating that it’s ‘not all men’ and it actively shows men being the best they can be by calling out and putting a stop to such behaviour. (They’re probably the same people who booted off about the vegan sausage roll that Greggs released, like that was life or death).
In fact, the responses slagging off the video are the reason why that video needs to exist. That’s the shitty, toxic behaviour that needs stamping out and it hurts my soul that I’m writing this, as a woman, knowing full well that anything I say on matter will fall on deaf ears to those who need to hear it.
We all know toxic males. The kind of guys who will have multiple ‘psycho exes’ and never appreciate that they’re the common denominator. The kind of guys who will claim they want equality but will still expect their relationship to conform to gender stereotypes and have a hissyfit if their girlfriend earns more than them.
They’re men who react to men. If women say it, they’re ‘nagging’. It’s sad, but true. But here, it’s men who can make a difference, who can change the rep they’re getting, by shouting louder than those who are booting off at a razor brand quite frankly, proving their point.
Be the man who will tell their friend they’re being a dick when they’re cheating on their girlfriend. Be the man who will step in when someone is bullying someone smaller than them. Who will ask their friend if they’re OK as fuck me, men just don’t chat about their feelings and that in itself is a wider issue. Be the man who will admit they made mistakes in past relationships rather than brand their ex a ‘psycho’ for simply calling them out on it. Be the man who points out to women that when they ask for their opinion on their body that it’s not really up to them to have an opinion.
If more guys were those guys, the Daily Mail would have less ammunition to kick off and Piers Morgan will be revealed as the true snowflake (and then he will hopefully melt and evaporate never to be seen again).
What did you think of the Gillette advert? Let me know in the comments as it would be great to see some positive vibes in between the trolls that a post like this will no doubt attract.