Role Models

It's been a few days since this Gilette ad called "The Best a Man Can Get" hit the airwaves.  Here it is.

There has been an avalanche of praise and criticism of the ad.  Of course the usual subjects in the #metoo movement and their sycophants on the left have praised it wildly saying that it's about time "toxic masculinity" gets it's comeuppance.  The best criticism I've read of the ad is an article in Daily Wire by Ben Shapiro.  You can read it here.  As usual, Ben's writing is clear, succinct and pulls no punches.

There isn't anything I can think of that irritates me more than lumping an entire population of people together and stereotyping them as all acting in lock step.  That's what this ad does.  It's deeply insulting and has only received accolades from certain quarters because it cowardly blames all men for the ills of society.  At the end it tries to show acts that boys can be proud of and model, but it's an afterthought and doesn't work.

Here's the deal.  The statistics say that over 40% of boys are being raised in single mother households.  In the black community it's higher.  Meanwhile the vast majority (almost 80%) of elementary teachers are female.  So a tremendous number of boys don't have role models.  They have difficulty growing into men and understanding what it takes.  It's not rocket science.  And so some segment of the population of boys act out.  But not all of them.  And not all men are misogynist assholes.  Accusing the entire male population of bullying, overly aggressive behavior, meanness, shallowness and the ills of society is quite simply a load of crap.

But of course there are problems.  And these problems should be identified and addressed, one kid at a time.  One of the best organizations I know of which is attacking this problem of no male role model in so many homes is www.boystomen.org.  Here are some statistics from their website:

• One in three children are born to unmarried parents. 
• An estimated 24.7 million children do not live with their biological father. 
• 43% of urban teens live away from their father. 
• 42% of fathers fail to see their children at all after divorce. 
• Since 1960 the rate of U.S. boys without fathers has quadrupled. 
• 1 in 6 black men had been incarcerated as of 2001. If current trends continue, 1 in 3 black males born today will spend time in prison in his lifetime. 

So instead of wringing your hands or blaming all men for the sins of a few or believing that some hashtag will solve problems, get involved with an organization that is actually making a difference.  Oh, and don't buy any Gillette products in the future!