Assvertising

[Content Note: Misogyny; patriarchy; gender essentialism; gender policing.]

Spudsy sent me the heads-up about this abysmal advert, the latest in the "Hail to the V" series produced by Summer's Eve:

A thin, young, white woman stands at a vanity in the bathroom, applying make-up, while a thin, young, white man is in the shower, lathering his body.

Woman: Did you know Summer's Eve Cleansing Wash is PH-balanced and gentler than soap, which makes it perfectly formulated for a woman's V?

Man: Huh?

Woman: Did you know you're using it?

The man freezes, terrified, and looks at the bottle of soap in his hand, which is labeled "Summer's Eve." Guitar music. Cut to a montage of the man doing Very Manly Things: Splitting wood in the backyard, cracking a raw egg into a glass and drinking it, playing drums in the garage, punching a speedbag, belly-flopping into a pool, karate chopping wood planks suspended between two cement blocks, pulling a roped car with his teeth, welding a helmet, mowing the grass on a riding mower while wearing the helmet, drinking beer and crushing the can.

He flops down on the couch beside the woman. "That was close," she says.

Images of the line of Summer's Eve body washes, accompanied by text reading: "Hail to the V."

Every single thing about this commercial is fucking terrible.

Once again, I will note how it is women who are called "the weaker sex," and yet the patriarchy defines men's masculinity as so delicate, so fragile, so easily compromised, that even using a soap intended for women necessitates putting one's body through painful demonstrations of masculine strength in order to protect it.