We've all seen those annoying Swiffer commercials in which a mop or broom or duster just can't get over being replaced by a Swiffer product...
So here's a mini-guest blog from my 9-year-old daughter. (The title was her idea.) She really doesn't like those commercials...
Her very first guest blog about sexism in the media... I'm so proud!Dear Swiffer,
I think your commercials are totally sexist. There is no good reason why in all your commercials there is a girl cleaning the house with Swiffer. Why are there only women doing the cleaning? It makes just as much sense that a man would be doing the cleaning of the house. Yes, some women do housecleaning, but some women don't. And it's not the only thing that women can do.
In your next commercial I think you should have a man doing the cleaning. The mop or broom can sing the song "Come Back To Me" by Vanessa Hudgens. (I'm not saying that you should actually do that song, because they might not be able to get permission to use it.) It would just be nice to see the genders reversed and have a girl mop singing to a guy using a Swiffer.
It's also pretty creepy that the joke of the commercials is that your mop or broom are following you around. They're kind of stalking you. Why would anybody want that? Imagine if it was your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend doing that? Would you want that to happen? I dont think so. It's not funny, it's scary. It happens to real people and it's not good to make a joke about something serious that happens to real people, just so you can sell a stupid Swiffer.
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17 comments:
Great post, well written. I agree 100%.
Your daughter is Awesome! I can't imagine how proud you must be.
That's really awesome. Great response! I wholeheartedly agree.
Hear, hear. As a guy who does his fair share of the housework (right now meaning all of it as the spouse is ill), it irks me when men are either left out entirely or portrayed as helpless in domestic situations. OTOH, the stove commercial where Dad gets overly excited about the new appliance and puts together a huge feast when his kids just wanted pancakes was amusing.
Great post!
Great post, especially because your daughter had the insight to question why stalking is portrayed as not only "funny" but also as if it is a normal part of any breakup (whether with a boyfriend or a broom...?). It's not funny, it's scary and dangerous. Maybe it sounds like I'm being uptight, but that's always bugged me about those commercials. I find the combination of stereotypes, all packed into a few seconds of a TV ad, to be what's scary. Women are both (a) enjoying housecleaning as their womanly duty; and (b) simply amusedly shaking their heads at creepy stalking behaviour, as if is natural and normal.
I completely agree and I love the title of this post. Your daughter rocks!
Budding Feminist WIN. Great post and I couldn't agree with her more. I abhor those commercials.
I am SO glad I'm not the only one that felt that way! :D Your daughter rocks.
I agree with the first half (swap genders next time) but not the second (stalking isn't necessarily unfunny).
Great post. Awesome to hear from someone so oung!
Stalking may be funny to some, but it's certainly not funny to the people who are being stalked (and often, in association, threatened). Also, some of the commercials take it way too far... sending flowers, okay, fine. Showing up uninvited in the hot tub? Creepy.
I agree with you and thinks it's great that you are comfortable calling those ads sexist, which is what they are.
I also appreciate that you mentioned the creepy nature of the stalking mop.
Keep up the great work.
Jay
Heh, that was my exact response to these ads. They creep me out no end.
Great letter to Swiffer from an observant, insightful smart young thing! Nice to see!
I know in my house - I rarely touch the Swiffer - my husband is the only one that uses it, as well as the vac, the windex, the mop...oh dear, maybe I'm not helping out enough around the house?
Swiffer does have commercials with men doing the cleaning, just not in this particular series.
OMG, I thought I was the only one seriously ANNOYED at these sexist, ignorant commercials. I am so sick of every cleaning, child care, household-chore commercial featuring women "happily" washing clothes, changing diapers and/or scrubbing floors and dirty toilets. As though thats what satisfies us in life. In what year do we live? And why isn't there more outrage on this? It's equally insulting to many men who understand that it's not a woman's job to clean - it's everyone's job and they therefore do their fair share. These companies need to get with the program - but we as consumers need to make them aware that we will boycott any and all products that feature women (primarily) in sub-servient roles such as house-cleaning and child care.
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