In case you're not familiar with the awesome power of dad bloggers, you better brace yourselves for the revolt that's brewing. Not.
A few months ago, there was a big whine-fest in the blogosphere when Ragu poorly executed a social media campaign and some dad bloggers tried to go Motrin moms about the whole thing. Melodramatic headlines like "Ragu Hates Dads" ensued. Shockingly, the world did not stop spinning and life went on as usual.
But a new article in Boston magazine warns about a powerful new movement that's forming: pissed off dads sick of being seen as morons. You know, sick of being objectified and portrayed in a sterotypical light as bumblers who can't cook or clean or....you know, make sauce from scratch.
Here's what I say to those dads: get in line behind the moms/women you think are getting all the respect as gourmet cooks and ass-wipers and house cleaners and...oh, what else are we always getting all the limelight for? You think being treated like a moron is the special domain of dads? Try being a woman for a while.
You know, because we can't do math, and we all love doing crafts, and baking, and, well, home-making. We all hate sex and only do it to get our husbands to do chores. We all want to be nurses or teachers or nurturers...that is, if we have any ambition at all outside the home, which, according to every woman's magazine and consumer product peddler, we do not because everyone knows all women care about is streak-free windows and flawlessly decorated baked goods that are the envy of all the other moms at bake sales, the running of which is the highlight of our lives.
Here's the thing--as a 43 year old mom, I've lived a long time and known plenty of dads. Currently know a lot of dads. And out of those hundreds of dads, there are about zero who are jockeying for the prize position of chief homemaker. That's not to say a few don't pitch in around the house--do some (or even--gasp--all) of the cooking. Some cleaning. Some child-rearing. But those few dads are by far the exception to the rule. I'm pretty sure huge brands aren't going to spend a buttload of money designing campaigns to appeal to a handful of these domesticated men. And here's the thing--even if they did decide to do it--change the stereotypes and swap out the cookie-cutter housewives featured in their ads with men--would that be a good thing? Is that really something men want to strive for-- being objectified not as "beer-swilling bros" but as domestic gods? And if so, why? Is swapping out one stereotype for another somehow better?
The article goes on to quote the publisher and CEO of Good Men Media:
“We think the daddy bloggers are just a couple of years behind the mommy bloggers as a real marketing force”
Really? That's what this is about? Because being known as "daddy blogger" is better than whatever it is you are currently known as? Or because being a "mommy blogger" is such a lucrative enterprise for millions of women? Dads, too, strive to do real work in exchange for coupons or "free" products that they have to pay taxes on? They want in on the "free" giveaways that they a) have to pay taxes on and b) have to pay to ship? Or is it the fortune that mommy blogging brings in that is allowing millions of women to support their families?
How about this--I'll trade you. My "status" as woman and the 70 cents an hour I make to your one dollar an hour? The stereotype marketers peg me as: homemaker, crafter, lover of all things domestic--for your "beer swilling bro" and jar sauce user? I'll take it. Because if using jar sauce makes you a moron, I'm already one anyway--may as well get out of my other domestic duties and make more money while I'm at it.
