Entry #7: Stereotypes of Men as Dumb in Video Advertisements

Recently while perusing a blog site dumbmen.com,  I came upon a collection of videos the author perceives as stereotyping men as dumb. The site itself is unorganized, with many broken links of videos that have been deleted, require a viewer to login to youtube, or of videos that are private and therefore not visible. To the credit of the creator, it seems they have not updated the blog since around mid 2014, perhaps not noticing the viewing status of some of the videos. Even so, navigation on the site is not extensively user-friendly. There is no overall organization scheme and finding a specific post or video is a matter of scrolling until it is found or knowing the key words mentioned to conduct a search.

The language from the author in the description/analysis of the videos at times ranges from relying on other stereotypes in defense of the stereotype they're presenting as an issue of men being shown as being dumb, to resorting to the use of swearing. Both the stereotypes and swearing used by the author, rely on vilifying  the image of women used in some of the videos. For example in some of the video descriptions, the blog site author states that yet again, women are being portrayed as the "typical smart wife/woman" with an implied negative connotation, while the husband/man is showcased as dumb. This brings forth the question: Is the author trying to say that the wife/women in the ads shouldn't be shown as smart and instead the husband/men should take the role of being presented as knowledgeable... all the time? Some of the videos though, do show the wife/women being mean, instead of primarily knowledgeable, which makes the author's point without the need for derogatory terms.

The method the author employs to get the message across of men being portrayed as dumb or incapable, by in some instances using negative verbiage, does not to me, seem as the best mode of operation. But there are some videos that clearly showcase the message website is trying to get across. The following are three examples from the blog site dumbmen.com and my personal analysis.

In the video above, an advertisement for The Sun Herald, a newspaper agency is promoting a free first aid kit apparently to potential newspaper reading customers. It portrays a man in a kitchen as being completely inept and unable to use a toaster, while clumsily becoming injured by his lack of experience with kitchen appliances and their locations. To tend to his minor injuries he would need a first aid kit, which according to the ad, he could have had if only he had subscribed to the newspaper and received a kit of his own. This ad relies on the stereotype that men don't know their way around a kitchen and have little to no knowledge in the operation of common household appliances.

This ad also takes place in a kitchen where a man is again portrayed as inept with kitchen appliances such as a simple mixer. The man decides to lick the beaters used to mix brownies, and when he does he gets his tongue stuck in the mixer that then turns on, apparently either injuring his tongue or cutting part of it off. The ad which is for Dairy Queen, an ice cream store, concludes that shopping at their store to satiate a craving of brownie batter is much safer for men, especially those that attempt to lick the brownie batter of the mixer. This ad also relies on the notion that men have limited knowledge in using kitchen utensils. 

This ad shows a man who is ordering a light beer, but makes it known that he doesn't care how it tastes. The bartender tells him that when he loses the purse he's carrying, and therefore starts caring about taste, then he'll get a "Miller Lite." The ad goes on to imply that the man has to "man up" in order to be worthy of the advertised beer. The ad relies on the stereotype that a piece of cloth (or whatever material it is) with a strap that goes over the shoulder used as a tool for carrying a person's belongings, is strictly a woman "thing." Therefore using this logic, and assuming that all "things" associated with stereotypes of women are unfavorable, then this man is also unfavorable and unworthy of a "respectable" beer of apparently superior taste reserved only for "real men" who don't use purses/satchels/bags...etc.

These three videos found on dumbmen.com are ones I agree with on being demeaning to men and limiting the scope in which they're viewed in society as what they're capable of, and who they can be. In contrast, the following two videos also found on the same blog site are ones I wouldn't classify as being ardently demeaning and bashing the image of men as dumb.

In this ad, a recent hire on his first day of work, who also has an MBA degree is recruited to help with a seemingly menial task of shipping packages on an overly busy day. The man says that because he is an MBA, he shouldn't be doing such a task. The boss, tells him jokingly, that since he has an MBA, then she'll have to show him how to do it. On dumbmen.com, the blog author concludes that the caustic factor evidencing portraying men as dumb is that the boss is a woman and is in a way "emasculating" the man (because apparently a woman can't be a boss?), by joking around that since he has an MBA, then he'll have to be taught how to complete a simple shipping task. The blog author is too quick to make conclusions in this case. This ad could be portraying and making fun of any recent grad who goes out to the workforce thinking they're above monotonous, menial tasks because of their prestigious degrees. This ad was even kind of funny.

This ad shows a dad who tries imitating the lifestyle of kids the age of his daughter. He gets a new haircut, new clothes and video chats with the daughters boyfriend. This ad to me does not demean men or stereotype them as dumb. If it does anything, it seems it's stereotyping the dad in the category of "parents" who try to be "hip" and "cool" to fit in with their kids or connect with them by sharing common interests.

All in all, yes, there does seem to be a problem with how men are sometimes portrayed in advertisements as being dumb, inept and/or incapable. The blog site mentioned throughout does present some videos that clearly portray this issue. But at the same time, some of the videos aren't truly male bashing, and some of the descriptions by the author instead bash the portrayal of women, or what they're capable of (being a boss, for example). Using negative stereotypes to illustrate or try to dismantle another stereotype, does not seem like the best, most logical, rational method. The main point, for me at least, is that we should try to see each other as equals and capable of much, regardless of gender. To achieve this, maybe advertisements should be abolished? Okay, maybe that's a far reach, but I too concluded that there is an issue with how certain groups are represented.