I don't agree with Sarah Palin. I don't even agree with the fact that she calls her husband the "First Dude." That's perhaps stupider--and more indefensible--than forbidding abortion in cases of rape or incest. But the fact that the question of motherhood versus power and success has become a central narrative in the Presidential Campaign is something with which I must disagree more.
Can a woman be a good mother and Vice President? This question reflects a larger cultural trope. Women are defined in our society as the ruler of the home and family. Men as absent laborers who "bring home the bacon." Hence, the question raised--and never to men. No one asked George W. Bush when his daughters were drunk off their ass flashing their panties in party photos, "can you be a good Father and the Worst President of All Time?" No one asked Bill Clinton if he could be a good Father and the philandering leader of the free world.
They should have. We should have change that. Advertising is a good place to start.
Advertising perpetuates this problem, especially advertising for Consumer Packaged Goods. There are economic realities behind this; the vast majority of grocery shopping is performed by women. This is clearly a reality marketers need to address but it also doesn't mean they need to create images that tether women to this reality. The more we see images of women orgasmic over a new dust cleaner, the more we believe in these stale gender roles. The insight is not women are time-stretched because they need to do more. It's that women no longer want to be the CEO of the home. They want to be, well, whomever they want to be. That includes President or Vice-President.
It's time marketers leveraged their brands to help achieve equal rights for women. Help us form a new question, "why can't the "First Dude" be the "First Dude" of the home?"
Oh, by the way, Sarah Palin sucks.
Psychology Today
Can a woman be a good mother and Vice President? This question reflects a larger cultural trope. Women are defined in our society as the ruler of the home and family. Men as absent laborers who "bring home the bacon." Hence, the question raised--and never to men. No one asked George W. Bush when his daughters were drunk off their ass flashing their panties in party photos, "can you be a good Father and the Worst President of All Time?" No one asked Bill Clinton if he could be a good Father and the philandering leader of the free world.
They should have. We should have change that. Advertising is a good place to start.
Advertising perpetuates this problem, especially advertising for Consumer Packaged Goods. There are economic realities behind this; the vast majority of grocery shopping is performed by women. This is clearly a reality marketers need to address but it also doesn't mean they need to create images that tether women to this reality. The more we see images of women orgasmic over a new dust cleaner, the more we believe in these stale gender roles. The insight is not women are time-stretched because they need to do more. It's that women no longer want to be the CEO of the home. They want to be, well, whomever they want to be. That includes President or Vice-President.
It's time marketers leveraged their brands to help achieve equal rights for women. Help us form a new question, "why can't the "First Dude" be the "First Dude" of the home?"
Oh, by the way, Sarah Palin sucks.
Psychology Today
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