I came across a Veet commercial that I saw as society saw as comical but was full of gender stereotypes in advertising. Veet was trying to portray a funny story line of a wife and husband and if you do not know what Veet is, it is a hair removal creme that lasts longer than simply shaving your legs or underarms. This supposedly funny commercial turned into pressure for females to conform to femininity.
The post goes onto fight that “America can no longer take a joke” and although yes it can still have some laughs connected to it, but this commercial is still publicly advertised and does not help the progression of society to which we have already created.
Take a look at the video!
Wow. I did not know that in order to be a woman you could not have any body hair. Yes the commercial is funny, but I honestly was taken back by the slogan. “Don’t Risk Dudeness” is something I would never associate with having hair on my legs. In my personal opinion, maybe this is different because I have never been in a relationship where leg hair was a deal breaker, but I would never wax or shave for the comfort of my partner. That is almost a ridiculous thought to me.
I thought the commercial was pretty funny at first. I enjoy watching men play women in commercials because they look out of place. However, when I watched it again, the message that the company was trying to get across to me, is that if I don’t shave my legs everyday or use their product, I will inevitably turn into a man. People should not have to conform to societies idea of being beautiful. For me, I am comfortable with shaving whenever I feel like it because it is not societies job to make me feel like I am an outcast for not shaving my legs everyday.
I do not know if I fond this commercial hilarious or offensive. I personally love natural beauty, finding women who do not shave attractive. At the same time I have to admit that the bearded man within the advertisement is absolutely a complete misconception about hygiene and women. People who confirm to societies standards will always be outcasts; but that does not mean that they can not be attractive.
I laugh everytime I see a man portraying a woman in a commercial, but I didn’t this time. I think that all the material we have been covering in this class has somehow made me more sensible to the media that stereotypes women. I feel that the title “Don’t risk dudeness” suggests that if a woman doesn’t shave everyday, she will get hairy and lose her femininity, when there is so much more about a woman than feeling her shaved legs. Also, this is another example of how the media makes it seem like it is part of a woman’s duty to please the man she is with. We may not even notice it, but the constant viewing of these type of commercials makes it seem so normal that it creates so many expectations from women.
This commercial did strike me as comical at first but the ad really did make me think about the product. This made me ask myself why I felt this way at the end of the ad and the answer I came up with is that the look on the man’s face at the touch of the woman’s “unwomanly” leg hair made me think about the reaction that men have given me if i haven’t shaved every day that week. It did offend me that the woman was portrayed as a man. I personally don’t feel that skipping a day of shaving makes me so undesirable to the opposite sex that i may as well be a man, but obviously this message is getting through to women because they used it to sell products. Its unfortunate that society has made it so that women feel the need to conform to a certain stereotype in order to be considered appealing and sexually attractive to men. Hopefully one day society will reach a point where women can be who they want to be and still be considered beautiful.
This commercial was pretty funny but also slightly offensive to me. Why do women need perfectly shaved legs to be perceived as “womanly”? It shouldn’t be a big deal if a woman’s legs are a little prickly. However, many women I know wouldn’t dare let their leg hair grow out so this commercial would definitely be affective in getting them to buy this product. It’s a little upsetting to me that a woman with prickly legs is being portrayed as at risk for being compared to a dude. This is just another way for society to conform women into believing that they always need to be perfect in order for a man to want to be with them.
The guy being portrayed as a girl was pretty comical, however being enrolled in this class has changed the way I viewed the video and honestly, I took some offense to it. If a girl hasn’t shaved her legs perfectly, is she all of a sudden unattractive? The look on the guys face when her legs were hairy, which was an extreme exaggeration, was a look of complete astonishment. It was a good advertising tactic, having girls fear that if they don’t use veet then their legs wont be perfect and they will be seen like mammals to their significant other. I understand they were simply using humor to sell their product, however they are not helping the issues women face with gendered norms daily.
To be honest, when I first saw this commercial, I couldn’t stop laughing. I wasn’t even paying attention to the message that could be perceived from it until I watched it again. The fact that they showed a man portraying the woman, shows that according to society, only men are supposed to have hairy legs. The fact that this one woman wasn’t using the right products to keep a little bit of ‘prickle’ away, made her a complete portrayal of a ‘dude.’ They are showing the conformity of females having to be completely smooth, all the time, and sometimes, its just down right impossible. Men are allowed to be ‘dudeish.’ For me, I am more comfortable with always shaving, but for society to bash a woman just because it grew in a bit quicker than expected, isn’t letting women progress out of the normative ways.