# Men: I'm pissed for you **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 14, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440 "2001-07-14T01:30:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![trose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@trose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trose)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/1 "2001-07-14T01:30:18Z")
The commercial for JCPenney’s One Day Sale. Little kid in a high chair, banging spoons furiously, slinging food and milk all over the place, and crying his little heart out for attention. _Right next to him_ sits advertising’s favorite cliche, SlugDad. Reading his paper. Can barely summon the interest or energy to turn his head and moan pathetically, “Where is your mother?” God, this shit pisses me off. **Most** Dads are great with their kids, attentive and engaged. We have on the board too many fine examples of the best of American fatherhood to single out one or two. How can you stand this crap? Here’s one “gal” who’ll be skipping the sale, JCP! [sub]OK, I wouldna gone anyway, I hate to shop … but you get my drift.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/2 "2001-07-14T02:22:14Z")
At least SlugDad wasn’t in the other room watching football! Then again, maybe there wasn’t a game on. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/3 "2001-07-14T03:02:56Z")
Aaaaaaargh, the helpless/neglectful dad cliche. I loathe this, and the subtle and not-so-subtle stereotypes it reinforces. Well, when this commercial pisses you off, remember the wonderful Motrin one… “There’s going to be a lot of headaches in this house…” where the kid is in his highchair banging the almighty crap out of two pot lids while dad is at the sink, doing dishes _(doing dishes, gals!)_, banging away at the pots and pans, playing along with junior. Mom’s nowhere in sight, and they’re coping just fine. And he’s not “babysitting,” another term a loathe for when a dad is parenting on his own. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/4 "2001-07-14T03:08:22Z")
Right. According to the mass media, when women step into a traditionally male role they always have the talent to rise above the sexist attitudes and back stabbing to eventually succeed amid cheers and confetti. But when men step into a traditionally female role they are complete idiots and unable to handle even the simplest tasks. Pisses me off too. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/5 "2001-07-14T03:48:54Z")
I hate these types of ads- how loud would women be screaming if they showed them looking at a bunch of tools and saying “I can’t use these! I’m a girl!” GRRRRR! I hate the dumb men e-mail forwards, too. The last time my aunt forwarded me one, I mailed back and said “Please don’t send me items of this nature. I don’t appreciate women being put down, and I don’t enjoy putting men down.” She has never sent another, and she apologized for the one she sent. Zette ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/6 "2001-07-14T10:54:22Z")
I say: it’s about damn time. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/7 "2001-07-14T14:27:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*I say: it’s about damn time. \*\* What do you mean it’s about time? This has been standard fare since the 70’s. Fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/8 "2001-07-14T16:41:31Z")
[immature giggles] SlugDad…[/immature giggles] This, as many “experts” have said, is truly a woman’s world these days. **Shogun Haircut** proposed to me his theory a few days ago that one day women will eliminate men, because “they don’t need us.” He had a whole elaborate plan worked out. As for me, hell, I like guys, a whole lot. And if you lean closer, I’ll tell you a little secret. _leans over_ ::whisper:: Guys are a lot cooler than girls a lot of time. If I ever need anything (a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with) I go to a guy first. Always. Ya’ll are pretty damn cool most of the time. And I liked **Zette’s** approach to the dumb-guy emails. Yay, you! ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/9 "2001-07-14T17:29:56Z")
Yeah, these always piss me off. Here’s an excerpt from [a rant on my web page](http://members.iglou.com/piercy/adnauseum.html) about one of my favorite examples: > [@](#): > > The more recent ad is for a new, pour-and-serve incarnation of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. This amazing new product can simply be poured from its plastic jar into a bowl and heated up, eliminating the arduous steps of 1.)operating the can opener, and 2.)adding a can of water. > > This commercial stars another Harried On-The-Go Mom, whose minivan is not shown in the commercial but you just know it’s nearby. She says, “Campbell’s must have been thinking of my guys when they created this new ready-to-eat soup.” > > At long last, “her guys” are able to prepare their own soup! > > A glance at the commercial reveals that “her guys” include her two preteen-types and her husband. So what she is saying is, “Everyone in my house who has a Y chromosome, including the middle-management alpha male who spawned the other two, is a useless, incompetent simian. If it weren’t for me, the mighty Soccer Mom with the uncanny ability to Operate The Can Opener and Add Water, they would certainly starve to death. Thank you, Campbell’s, for making sure that my Big Lugs never have to learn to do anything for themselves!” ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/10 "2001-07-14T18:03:44Z")
Hmmm, the advertising seems to be aimed at women, who would likely object if they were portrayed in the way they were in the 50’s, cute but dumb. You’d think women would be insulted by such patronising attitudes, even against men, seeing straight through the con trick. Must work though 'cause they keep pushing the same shite at us all. It may be cutting my nose off to spite my face but even if the product is great I won’t touch it if the advertising is so insultingly stereotyping and demeaning to either sex. Fuck 'em they can get their money from the gullible. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/11 "2001-07-14T18:37:18Z")
Hey! Watching kids is HARD! Boy, do I know. I lost three of my own before I got this whole Stay-At-Home-Dad thing down. Well, actually I only _lost_ two of them. The alligator ate that one, so that doesn’t count. Beware the Zoo! More than once Soupo has gone all Destruct-O-Tron on me and I couldn’t wait for The Little Woman to get back from her jaunt to Penney’s to take the little bugger off my hands. Duct tape only goes so far. And scotch makes him puke. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/12 "2001-07-14T18:44:16Z")
What’s really weird is that my father is a better cook than my mother. I mean, she has some things she makes better than him-notably he really doesn’t do much baking or desserts, and her spaghetti sauce or her cream chicken beat his by miles. But my father LOVES to cook. He experiments, he comes up with great ideas, and he usually makes really yummy food. ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/13 "2001-07-14T19:47:53Z")
It’s pretty much S.O.P. to portray all men as weak, stupid and completely helpless these days (or worse) on the sitcoms, commercials, etc… whilst the women, of course, are able to leap tall buildings in single bound, all the while raising 6 kids and taming Wall Street on the side as a hobby. _yawn_ ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/14 "2001-07-14T20:43:24Z")
As a Marketing Major, I sit here frantically trying to defend the commercial. The best that I can think of is that JC Penny assumes that their target woman thinks their husbands are aweful fathers (or assume all husbands are - if they dont’ happen to be married). These woman could look at their sale as time off because they are therefore forced to do all the work. There must be a big enough market that thinks this way and JC Penny must have done some research confirming this attitude pertains to a their target or they have pissed off the majority and are therefore screwed. Either way, I flip when commercials are on anyhow and don’t put a great deal of faith in the fact that their views of society are true. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/15 "2001-07-14T20:43:37Z")
I want to point out that the effect of this type of advertising is **not** just to make men feel like shit, but to make women feel like shit as well: it sets up an impossible standard by which the woman is supposed to be super-competent all the time, never unhappy, and able to handle anything with a smile–including a lout of a husband who couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. No one is super-competent all the time, but by presenting Superwoman as the “normal” standard it makes women feel like they must be lacking some basic quality that lets everyone else do it all so easy, wihtout ever getting any help from anyone, especially not bubba over there. Then the advertiser promises they they have a problem that can fix that. Both sexes are really getting equally screwed by this whole advertising paradigmn. I agree wtih the boycott idea. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/16 "2001-07-14T22:10:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\* And he’s not “babysitting,” another term a loathe for when a dad is parenting on his own. \*\* [singing] Have I tooooold you lately, that I looooove you??[/singing]. AAAaaaahh, **Cranky** , I bow before thee. Why? BECAUSE you are SO on the money. HOW many times did I go food shopping with Zach in the stroller and Laura in the Gerry framed backpack, and some cockwrench would say, " ooh, Mr. Mom for the day? ". No, assmunch, Mr. Mom is a movie and I’m their father. I do this all day, every day that I’m not shooting, and since I do sleep deprivation better than the Ice Princess does, I do it at fucking 2:34am some nights too!! ". Assholes. Anyway, bless your heart for nailing it so beautifully. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/17 "2001-07-14T22:23:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mayberrydan \* > \*\*These woman could look at their sale as time off because they are therefore forced to do all the work. > \*\* **Mayberrydan,** , I applaud your effort to try to figure out what Penny’s was thinking with this commercial, but I chuckle at the idea that shopping at Penny’s is “time off.” It’s _Penny’s_, fer cryin’ out loud. I go there to buy exotic items such as socks and shower curtain rings. I realize it is in Penny’s best interest to present sock shopping at their fine establishment in a positive light, but I fear for the day that my “time off” from household tasks is doing yet another household task. I’m creeped out by the negative stereotype of the Slugdad, and also by the assumption that all women find shopping to be their recreational activity of choice. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/18 "2001-07-14T22:31:13Z")
The subtext is that women have to do the domestic chores that men, being so obviously incompetent at them, cannot be expected to do. In other words, _we don’t care if y’all harbor a condescending chauvinistic attitude towards us, but DO get in their and rattle them pots and pans_… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/19 "2001-07-14T22:35:08Z")
I dunno, I got a really nice dress with a matching denim top yesterday at Penny’s for 7 bucks-it was originally FIFTY BUCKS. Say what you want, Penny’s has great bargains. But I still agree with the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440/20 "2001-07-15T02:06:32Z")
As a guy, I fully support these negative stereotypes. Lowered expectations can only help me in the long run. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-im-pissed-for-you/72440.md?page=2)