What is your opinion of the controversial Gillette ad against toxic masculinity?
It’s a calculated risk which is most likely to pay off.Some basics of advertisement :You don’t run a ad campaign to make a political and social statement, you aren’t working for social issues.You run a ad to get noticed by the target audience and to gain a larger share of their mind-space.You don’t get yourself entangled with negative publicity, which can reduce your brand value significantly.You don’t alienate your target segment.We don’t need to judge them for 1. Let me show why they believe they are okay with points 2 & 4.P & G is a FMCG Giant with a large history of successful ad campaigns. I trust their assessment of Target Audience, but let’s break it down further so that we can be on the same page in the following discussion.Segmentation of Consumers of GilletteMen who support the narrative of feminism, #Metoo and toxic masculinity. (16% in USA, 2015)Men who are indifferent to the narrative of feminism, #Metoo and toxic masculinity. (Y%) (~75–80%)Men who oppose the narrative of feminism, #Metoo and toxic masculinity. (Z%) (I don’t have this exact data, but I am sure this would be ~5–10%)Apart from that a for a large number of P & G products, primary decision maker are women. Make no mistake they will see the ad and a lot of them will appreciate the tone of the ad.Their basic hypothesis seems to beMost Women will appreciate the change in tone.Most men won’t care about the change in tone.Which lead them to this conclusion that of the entire population, roughly 5% would oppose the idea, and a much larger population ~30% will appreciate it and a larger number will be indifferent. They have excluded that segment (5%) from their target audience.Now considering point 3, this is a risky move indeed, banking on the assumption that - Most Men have other things to worry about than being accused as Toxic. I believe their assessment is correct and hence I can see that their move would work.
How can I control my anger?
There once lived a boy who had a bad temper. He would get angry at every little thing. One day, his father gave him a bag of nails and told him, "Every time you get angry, hammer a nail into that front wall."And so the activity started. On the first day, the boy hammered 50 nails. The next day, he hammered 40. Each time he used to go there, he repented being angry - it was quite a challenge to hammer a nail into that damn brick wall! Slowly, he discovered that controlling anger was easier than hammering, and the number of nails hammered started going down.Eventually, a day came when he didn't get angry, and he felt the joy of it. Now his father gave him another task, "If you do not get angry the entire day, remove one nail from the wall." After several days, all the nails were removed.Now his father took him near the wall and asked him what did he see. The boy replied that he can see holes in the wall. The father then explained to his son: "These holes are like the scars that you leave on people when you get angry. No matter how many times you say sorry, the scar does not go."So I suggest you two things:Realize that words once spoken cannot come back. Your anger hurts others and leaves a sour impression that lasts forever.Each time you get angry, "hammer a nail". Simplest thing you can do is to carry a pocket diary and put a line each time you get angry. Then at night, count the number of lines for that day. If you make this a habit, each time you would get angry, you would be reminded to note it down. Indirectly, you would also realize that you getting angry. And because you are conscious and aware at that time, you would find it easier to control your actions and subdue anger.I hope the day comes soon when you don't have any line in your diary.
Is it okay/common if your boyfriend/husband throws or breaks things in anger in front of you with no intentions of physically hurting you?
As many have said, I also agree that that is a BIG no.I feel like much of this has already been well established, but hear me out —A person who throws or breaks things purposefully in front of you, particularly the latter, is threatening you. It’s not an uncommon threat display for YOUNG males to do when they feel like they aren’t having their way or when their sense of control/dominance is compromised. This is something teenagers and children do, just so we are clear. It is NOT something an adult should be doing. For an adult (over 20–25) to do these immature displays of strength and superiority (which is what it comes down to, anthropologically; he’s showing off how big and strong he is, showing you what could happen to you) demonstrates a compromised ego (as in the psyche) and failure to come to grips with his own emotions. Likely, he never learned how to properly deal with his feelings, be them of anger or otherwise.You can not change that.So many in this situation believe that if they continue on and set a “better example” of the way they want to be treated, that their partner will “learn” how to behave better.It doesn’t work.You can’t help the way he was raised or the reasons for his issues. But you also can not help him change.The only thing you can do in this situation is to get out of it. Leave him. Ignore his angry outbursts and whatever threat he might throw at you, and WALK AWAY. It might hurt, but the pain in your emotional heart will hurt a lot less than the pain of bruises and broken bones later on.