Feminax advert...I find it unacceptable

[sorky]

here

If the roles were reversed there would be outrage!

I think we need to remember that the advertising industry is largely run by men.

So it seems a bit strange to me, to complain to feminists, about the way men and women are portrayed by that industry.

The industry isn't run by feminists. If it were, the portrayal of women and men in the media would be very different.

Very good point HB. Tis a male dominated industry.

Men and women are only equal under the law, and that covers equality of opportunity and protection from discrimination. Men and women are inheritantly different. Ying and Yang. The Feminax Ad tries to make a quick point, it is marketing, they are in sales! It's a useful product but I agree it is unpleasant and aggressive in tone, because that's often how women are when they have period pain and for good reason. The ad has seconds to make the point. I object to a lot of the aggressive tone in advertising. The wider issue is that for many women, even a product like Feminax does not really help. It invites us to believe we can carry on regardless of what our body is saying. A bit like the Lemsip/Flu medication Ads, the message being, if you take this product then of course you can carry on with the Powerpoint presentation at the board meeting!

"Men and women are inheritantly different. Ying and Yang."

I disagree - there are some small biological differences - very small compared to the similarities between men and women - we are all humans after all.

The differences between the sexes are much smaller than the variation within the sexes of individuals. I dislike the sterotyping of women are like this - men are like that. I feel that it leads to a reduction in opportunity for women.

I also think that the small biological differences between men and women are magnified by nurture (how we are brought up) and bu culture.

I am reading Pink Brain Blue Brain at the moment which covers this topic.

tabouleh - Most people realise that a lot of what they do is learnt behavious and filtered through culture. It doesnt stop it being funny though when you recognise behaviours in people etc.

tabouleh - So you disagree that men and women are inheritantly different? Please do not wilfully misunderstand me so that you can bang your point home. I was not referring to the shared core humanity in both sexes!

Chatelaine - I'm not talking about the obvious genitals - women have babies etc.

But yes I disagree that men and women are inherently different!

Honestly I do! I didn't until fairly recently....

I know that there are differences in brain size etc and that some tests have shown that various characteristics are on average more male and some are on average more female but I feel that these are then magnified massively by the culture we live in.

EG these supposed difference are used to state that men are not as good as women at cleaning? Bollocks - they learn early on that women do more cleaning than men!

There is some interesting stuff in the book I referenced about how parents treat young babies differently due to their sex. So a baby boy will be encouraged more to be active and praised for this and baby girls encouraged for sitting looking at books etc.

'Chatelaine - I'm not talking about the obvious genitals - women have babies etc.

But yes I disagree that men and women are inherently different!

Honestly I do! I didn't until fairly recently....

I know that there are differences in brain size etc and that some tests have shown that various characteristics are on average more male and some are on average more female but I feel that these are then magnified massively by the culture we live in.

EG these supposed difference are used to state that men are not as good as women at cleaning? Bollocks - they learn early on that women do more cleaning than men!
'

Surely you have always known this? I have known this my whole life as surely its obvious in the people you see around you. I didnt know how to cook and clean until after I was married. I have worked with a girl who I had to teach how to cook pasta the other day because she put it on the boil with no water in it! My husband has never even held a hammer etc. I didnt know you had to put water in an iron until I was 18 and in the military. I suppose I have always known this as nowadays most people dont teach their kids how to do gender related things.

Agree with this "The wider issue is that for many women, even a product like Feminax does not really help. It invites us to believe we can carry on regardless of what our body is saying. A bit like the Lemsip/Flu medication Ads, the message being, if you take this product then of course you can carry on with the Powerpoint presentation at the board meeting!"

another bugbear of mine. those bloody lemsip ads where basically you must go to work under any circumstances. depressing in the extreme.

'Agree with this "The wider issue is that for many women, even a product like Feminax does not really help. It invites us to believe we can carry on regardless of what our body is saying. A bit like the Lemsip/Flu medication Ads, the message being, if you take this product then of course you can carry on with the Powerpoint presentation at the board meeting!"

another bugbear of mine. those bloody lemsip ads where basically you must go to work under any circumstances. depressing in the extreme'

This relates to what I have wrote to you on the other thread. Perpetuating this so that you dont lose time or productiveness within the workplace. It isnt normal, its just trying to sell you things and make you feel bad.

sunny2010 - you are referring to nuture and culture. Let's think about the logical implications for the planet, following this Western idea about equality. You say that you did not know how to cook and clean until after you were married. Was that because you were highly academic and busy with other things or because no one bothered to teach you? Hopefully both sexes have lots of opportunity to do both. We all have to learn basic living skills after all. The same applies to young men, who are frankly emasculated by society with no traditional job opportunities. It has a lot to do with Economics.

sunny2010 - you seem to be illustrating a general de-skilling of current and future generations wrt to manual labour - cooking/cleaning/gardening/paininting/household maintenance/car maintenance - these issues relate to both sexes and whilst concerning are not what I was meaning to talk about.

My point I was trying to make was that many of what seem to be "observable" differences between the sexes are either generalisations/stereotypes or have been caused by upbringing culture rather than an inherent biological difference between the sexes.

I am now confused at to whether Chatelaine and I are in agreement or not. .

'sunny2010 - you are referring to nuture and culture. Let's think about the logical implications for the planet, following this Western idea about equality. You say that you did not know how to cook and clean until after you were married. Was that because you were highly academic and busy with other things or because no one bothered to teach you? Hopefully both sexes have lots of opportunity to do both. We all have to learn basic living skills after all. The same applies to young men, who are frankly emasculated by society with no traditional job opportunities. It has a lot to do with Economics.'

I didnt iron as I have never seen my parents iron. I didnt cook as my dad cooked all my meals for me as he works in the industry and I never wanted to learn etc. I have known lots of male and female teens that dont know how to do things that are supposedly really easy. When I was in the military we had to have ironing lessons for people that didnt know how to do it. That was for girls as well as boys as most I was there with had never used an iron or washing machine before.

I think that it is silly saying things like cooking and DIY are innate as a lot of female and males never learn either of these when they are young so its obvious. No one is going to be born knowing how to do any of those things are they?

'you seem to be illustrating a general de-skilling of current and future generations wrt to manual labour - cooking/cleaning/gardening/paininting/household maintenance/car maintenance - these issues relate to both sexes and whilst concerning are not what I was meaning to talk about.

My point I was trying to make was that many of what seem to be "observable" differences between the sexes are either generalisations/stereotypes or have been caused by upbringing culture rather than an inherent biological difference between the sexe
'

I think the fact this is very prevelant shows that obviously most things are not innate. I think that is obvious to most people. I agree that most things like this arent biologocial but I think most people realise that nowadays, especially the young as we are often the ones that cant do any of these things that we are supposedly to be able to do because of our gender.

sunny2010 "No one is going to be born knowing how to do any of those things are they?"

No, people are not born knowing how to do anything. However hopefully they will have role models, which they can reject but which do not spring from any conspiracy aganist either sex.

When I have period pain and I reach for the Feminax, I am jolly glad that I have someone, (please note I am not being gender specific), strong like my DH to do the heavy tasks. In turn I do little countless things for him as he does for me. I have given him a meal on a tray so he can enjoy the Grand Prix in peace and I do not feel in anyway demeaned by this. When people can agree on shared tasks and respect each other's role and contribution to the wider good, that is civilized imo.

I am unhinged at least once a month. Thank God for DH. You are right SugarMousePink, it does not eddify either sex, it's just an Advertisment to stimulate sales.

I must practice my emoticons but I will not blush as that would be so sterotypical, here goes. at least once a month.

Jesus, stay with me, I thought I knew what a hyphen was!

Gives up!

You have add the -- before and after each word :)

I see now, it's EACH word! & not the phrase, thanks