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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

John Lewis and it’s ‘gender relaxed’ ad

634 replies

SouthernFashionista · 11/10/2021 19:44

Curious to hear thoughts on the new ad from John Lewis. It strikes me as sinister. Why does a small child have to send out a message of LGBTQ equality? Why is he acting like a drag queen.

OP posts:
PigeonLittle · 13/10/2021 20:12

The advert reminded me of my children, when they really let go and play and are very unaware of their surroundings and chaos caused. His "pout" which is mentioned above I recognise in my children play acting.

The advert felt fun and carefree. I like spotting JL items through their home. I liked the vibrancy of colours and I felt it had a theme of "let kids be kids".

It was clearly a child pratting about the house and every single thing he did, my sons have done at one point, although obviously not at the once!! Tried to climb on table, stuck hand in paint, put on adult clothes, swung about etc.

I'm pretty GC so wasnt sure from first few comments what I would make of it but cannot see what all the fuss is about.

merrymouse · 13/10/2021 20:17

This one is the complete opposite. It's not just the sex angle that bothers me (male messes things up while long-suffering females look on) but also the money/entitlement- don't worry about smashing everything up, someone will clean it up, someone will pay for a new one. Urgh.

Yes - the smug entitlement is really off-putting. Deliberately destroying property just isn't the same as getting a bit muddy as in the Persil Ad.

It's all very Bullingdon Club.

merrymouse · 13/10/2021 20:20

It was clearly a child pratting about the house and every single thing he did, my sons have done at one point, although obviously not at the once!! Tried to climb on table, stuck hand in paint, put on adult clothes, swung about etc.

Ransacked your bedroom and emptied your drawers? Thrown a sibling's art project on the floor? And you thought this fun? The kind of behaviour that should be encouraged? Or even the kind of damage that might be covered by insurance?

Piapiano · 13/10/2021 20:21

@PigeonLittle

The advert reminded me of my children, when they really let go and play and are very unaware of their surroundings and chaos caused. His "pout" which is mentioned above I recognise in my children play acting.

The advert felt fun and carefree. I like spotting JL items through their home. I liked the vibrancy of colours and I felt it had a theme of "let kids be kids".

It was clearly a child pratting about the house and every single thing he did, my sons have done at one point, although obviously not at the once!! Tried to climb on table, stuck hand in paint, put on adult clothes, swung about etc.

I'm pretty GC so wasnt sure from first few comments what I would make of it but cannot see what all the fuss is about.

Do you mean "let boys be boys"? Nothing fun and care free about misogyny and sexualisation of children.
Coffeey · 13/10/2021 20:21

@JumperandJacket you've summed up the difference well there.

TrainedByDinosaurs · 13/10/2021 20:22

Sorry to have missed SirChenjins post it sounds like it was both thoughtful and amusing.

The ad is appalling, it is disturbing that JL think it is appropriate to sexualise young boys in this way.

I’ve a pedophile neighbour (convicted of molesting that age group boys) I suspect he’ll enjoy that advert Envy

PigeonLittle · 13/10/2021 20:23

I don't feel like anything was sexualised but I can understand the misogynistic considerations people have.

Gastonia · 13/10/2021 20:23

PigeonLittle I feel you must work for John Lewis Grin

PigeonLittle · 13/10/2021 20:26

I wish, I'd love that discount Grin I just fear I'm their exact target market!! Wine

Coffeey · 13/10/2021 20:26

I felt it had a theme of "let kids be kids". I felt it had a theme of "let kids be little shits". The child is old enough to know they are deliberately causing destruction.

Coffeey · 13/10/2021 20:28

The advert reminded me of my children, when they really let go and play and are very unaware of their surroundings and chaos caused see the dancing girl one feels like this one to me. But this one the boy seems very aware of his surroundings and is enjoying causing chaos.

MoltenLasagne · 13/10/2021 20:28

It's all very Bullingdon Club.
^So true - I knew there was something in addition to the misogyny that was bothering me.

megletthesecond · 13/10/2021 20:29

I do feel sorry for the boy in the ad now its all kicked off. He just got to act. The adults should have realised it was a pretty daft idea.

My DD has deliberately smashed up loads of things in the house. It's never occurred to me to claim it on insurance, maybe I should try JL.

Clymene · 13/10/2021 20:30

I am their target market @PigeonLittle. I'm so much their target market that most of my furniture is from JLP, i but lots of my clothes there and have had a partnership card for about 15 years.

I can't tell you how much I hate this ad.

Zeugma · 13/10/2021 20:34

i've had another look at the ad - teal and pink clothes in the opening shot too

Plus teal walls in the living-room and a circular print in a very striking pink on that wall.

The colour palette is reinforced throughout.

Tal45 · 13/10/2021 20:40

Why not have a girl dressing up as her scientist dad and destroying the place by doing science experiments? But no instead we have the old stereotype of boys go round destroying stuff while girls sit quietly doing art and don't make a fuss when it's ruined by said boy. Having a boy dressed in girls clothes and make up is so boringly, predictably woke it's just boring IMO.

theThreeofWeevils · 13/10/2021 20:42

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KimikosNightmare · 13/10/2021 20:49

@PigeonLittle

The advert reminded me of my children, when they really let go and play and are very unaware of their surroundings and chaos caused. His "pout" which is mentioned above I recognise in my children play acting.

The advert felt fun and carefree. I like spotting JL items through their home. I liked the vibrancy of colours and I felt it had a theme of "let kids be kids".

It was clearly a child pratting about the house and every single thing he did, my sons have done at one point, although obviously not at the once!! Tried to climb on table, stuck hand in paint, put on adult clothes, swung about etc.

I'm pretty GC so wasnt sure from first few comments what I would make of it but cannot see what all the fuss is about.

You can't see what all the fuss is about?

Did your own little darlings also deliberately destroyed another child's plaything and did you just sit there, like a lump of wood, thinking "let kids be kids"?

I'm not gender critical and I thought that advert was awful. The child was a spoilt, selfish, destructive brat.

Mydogmylife · 13/10/2021 20:57

@Wroxie

The ad is hyperbole. It's a joke. It's cute. It's making a poing about how kids can fuck up your house and how it's not the end of the world especially if you have the insurance they're trying to sell.

I (a woman, if it matters) remember very specifically being about this kid's age, dressing up in lots of scarves and ruining putting on my mother's makeup to climb up on the kitchen island to pretend it was a stage while playing this VERY song on the record player. I broke one of the edges of the tiled countertop in the process. I also remember that my bookish cousin was absolutely shocked and refused to participate. I don't remember kicking over her little paints but I wouldn't have put it past myself.

The lot of you are so blinded by your own fears about gender and sex that you're becoming what you claim to hate. If this was a little girl smashing up the house playing cars or doing wrestling moves (which I also did - jumping off the landing on to the sofa and smashing the chandelier in the process) you'd probably be well into it but the second a boy is a little dramatic and feminine you're clutching your trans-agenda pearls like it's the end of the world. I've got a packet of grips if anyone needs one.

Mmmmmmm - no! It's the wanton and DELIBERATE destruction that's upsetting , apart from the fairly obvious misrepresentation of how the John Lewis policy would react to this claim
DaisyNGO · 13/10/2021 21:00

@Coffeey

I felt it had a theme of "let kids be kids". I felt it had a theme of "let kids be little shits". The child is old enough to know they are deliberately causing destruction.
And let be kids apparently means let them bully and have a giggle about it. Bizarre ad.
Jackofallsorts · 13/10/2021 21:00

If John Lewis focussed on Customer Service and not Financial Services they may begin to stop their decline.

I can't imagine their home insurance product contributes much to their bottom line.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 13/10/2021 21:01

I realised why i found the advert so disturbing (apart from all the great points already mentioned).

The boy dancing reminds me of this www.dailymotion.com/video/x35x301 and thats really, really not right. The video is a clip from the Wicker Man where the landlords daughter is "dancing" in the next room - I think it's all the wall slapping.

Artichokeleaves · 13/10/2021 21:06

the second a boy is a little dramatic and feminine

What nonsense. How is that child being remotely 'feminine'? What's feminine about trashing the place and exerting power over others, smashing up other children's activities and demonstrating absolutely zero empathy or self awareness?

That awful behaviour isn't 'a little dramatic' either. The angry face and the contrast of the frozen boring female types in the background is quite nasty stuff.

ArabellaScott · 13/10/2021 21:14

It's all very Bullingdon Club.

Yes, that's the vibe. With additional sexual overtones.

WomaninBoots · 13/10/2021 21:15

If it was a little girl doing exactly the same no-one would describe her as "feminine" in a million years.