By now everyone who doesn’t live under a rock has seen the patronizing Gillette ad that portrayed traditionally masculine traits as harmful, including stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression. The pushback from writers and pundits was swift and fierce. Everyday folks have weighed in, too: there are nearly twice as many thumbs-down ratings on the ad’s YouTube page as there are thumbs-up ratings.
As pleased as I am to read the articles denouncing the Gillette ad, words just aren’t as powerful as videos. Fortunately for us, there is Ilan Srulovicz, CEO and founder of Egard Watch Company, who fought back against the Gillette ad with his own powerful video, aptly titled “What is a man?”
In the video, Srulovicz asks, “What is a man?” and then answers this question by posing a series of additional questions (“Is a man brave?”) alongside a statistic that indicates the answer is yes. For example, men are clearly brave because they account for 93 percent of workplace fatalities. The statistics are meant to educate people about the hidden realities of men’s lives. After several questions and statistics, the ad ends with the statement, “We see the good in men.”
[Read more: Gillette #MeToo ad boosts brand awareness but not necessarily incentive to buy company’s products]
So far, the Egard Watch Company ad’s YouTube page has earned 185,000 thumbs-up ratings compared to a paltry 2,500 thumbs-down ratings.
“Enough with the identity politics!” the viewers are saying. “Enough with tearing men down!” They are shouting these words with the only method available to them: a click of their keyboard.
Back in 2012, I wrote an article for Fox News headlined “The War on Men.” I took a lot of flak at the time for writing it. But I was right, and it’s even worse today than it was then. Ilan Srulovicz’s video couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Srulovicz on Monday. I wanted, more than anything, to simply thank the man who had the courage to say “enough is enough” in such a powerful yet peaceful manner. Srulovicz has been aware for some time about the negative messaging surrounding men and masculinity, but the Gillette ad was the last straw.
Srulovicz is fair. He is calm. But he is passionate. He has sisters and a longtime girlfriend and a mother and a niece. He also has a dad, and he talks highly of them all.
Like most people who are happy in their personal relationships and who have no axe to grind with society, Srulovicz doesn’t see one sex as superior to the other, and he doesn’t believe that empowering one gender requires knocking the other one over. “Masculinity can be a beautiful thing, just like femininity,” he wrote in The Western Journal. “We need to start celebrating each other, not tearing each other down.”
But for the past half-century feminists and their ilk have insisted on pitting men and women against each other in a relentless game of one-upmanship, and they’ve been very successful. Rest assured that the entity behind the Gillette ad is the same entity that believes “the future is female.” Men need to change, they say. Since women have officially become more like men, it’s men’s turn to become more like women. The goal is interchangeability.
As if that were possible. As if that’s what people want. As if that’s right and fair and good when in reality it amounts to trying to rip our biology out of us. I suspect Mother Nature will have something to say about that.
During the Super Bowl, viewers will have the unfortunate experience of watching the Gillette ad again. How many times, I don’t know, but one is bad enough. The moment you see it, grab your smartphone, go to You Tube find the Egard ad, so you’re reminded of just how beautiful and wonderful and necessary men are—and then look at the number of thumbs-up ratings to see how many people know it. You’ll feel better instantaneously.
Most importantly, don’t buy a single Gillette razor. But do go out and buy yourself a nice new watch from Egard Watch Company. After all, its existence was forged as a tribute to the bond between a son and his father.
Suzanne Venker (@SuzanneVenker) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is an author, speaker and cultural critic known as “The Feminist Fixer.” She has authored several books to help women win with men in life and in love. Her most recent, The Alpha Female’s Guide to Men & Marriage, was published in February 2017. Suzanne’s website is www.suzannevenker.com.