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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to be confused by Aptamil Ad

28 replies

milliemolliemou · 19/10/2017 01:31

First time posting

Tell me if someone has posted about this before.

Young girl fed on Aptamil becomes a ballerina. Young boy fed on Aptamil becomes a rock climber.

My reaction is this is going back to the Sixties. I have DCs and DD loves rock climbing and is a serious biker. StepDS loves music and books.

OP posts:
GerdaLovesLili · 20/10/2017 15:17

What annoys me about all follow-on milk ads, is that they exist solely to push brand awareness for for stage one milk. Follow-on milk is an entirely unnecessary product that wouldn't exist at all if it were legal to advertise stage one formula.

The annoying gender stereotyping is only the second-most problematic thing about the ad.

53rdWay · 20/10/2017 17:46

So I should be upset if my DD ends up being a ballerina?!

Nobody said this.

Look at it this way: how many adverts, toys, clothes, TV programmes, books, whatever, is your daughter going to see linking "ballet dancer" to girls? Now, how many is your son going to see showing that little boys can do ballet too?

And while you're adding up the many, many occasions in which I'm sure you've seen ballet imagery targeted to little boys, think of it this way, too: this advert is showing babies, doing basically the same thing, learning to stand up and learning how to use their arms and legs. Why is the girl baby seen as being a potential ballerina for doing this, while the boy is seen as being a potential mountain climber?

There was a pregnancy week-by-week site I saw when I was pregnant, that talked about the point where your developing baby was developing limb buds. It said something like: "if your baby is a girl, she'll be doing ballet twirls in no time! And if you're expecting a little boy, it won't be long before those legs are booting a football into the neighbour's garden!"

Foetuses. With limb buds. You don't even get to develop proper limbs before you're told what your acceptable hobbies are going to be.

BigFatGoalie · 20/10/2017 21:26

53rd I completely see and agree with your point. But I think perhaps I do things differently with my DD to some other posters. My DD is in fact a ballerina. And when we watch videos on YouTube we discuss male and female dancers. We’ve watched Baryshnikov and Nureyev, and every opportunity I get I remind her she can be anything she wants to be in life. I call her strong, brave and clever on a daily basis, but I also tell her she looks beautiful.

This advert can depict whatever it wants to. I am forming my DD’s inner voice. And I’m doing it a damn lot louder than Actimel is.

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