"Here comes success!" Sexism???

I was watching some commercials from a few years back and came across this Cadillac commercial for Khakis which involves a female executive walking through the office to the song “here comes success” and causing all the male slackers to scurry away in fear.  I found it an extremely amusing and empowering advertisement.  In addition this advert was named by Adweek (an advertising industry publication) as one of the Best Spots of the Year 2006.

But in addition to all the good I also remember the anger it stirred up amongst the MRAs and men in general who branded this commercial sexist and humiliating to men.

Now I could of course go on about all the male sexism towards women and girls that we have had to put up with since the beginning of time and of course I could go on about how men have no trouble what-so-ever in humiliating women.  Which one could then argue that men are simply getting what they deserve. 

When I saw this ad for the first time, I most certainly did not consider it sexist towards men, in fact I found it empowering and uplifting for women. 

So my question is, is this ad sexist and demeaning to men as so many males consider it to be?

Let’s start off by having a close look at the ad itself.  Many males complained that it was only the male staff who were running in fear of this woman executive.  So let’s look at the women staff in the advert.  Here all the women seem to be receptionists and PAs.  Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not trying to run down these positions in anyway as these jobs can be quite trying at the best of times and are very important to the functioning of a business.  But like in most male dominated companies it is the women who are confined to the lowest of the lowest jobs in the company.  And I couldn’t help noticing that these women in the capacities as receptionists and PAs were actually working i.e. they were doing what the company paid them to do.

So if you are doing your job, why should there be a reason to run when the boss arrives?  Unlike the males whom many were loafing off.   

It is no secret that in many male dominated companies, it is the women who do the actual dirty work while the males opt for the golf course or a local strip joint, because apparently the golf course is where business is conducted and networking takes place, while the strip joint is for entertaining the predominantly male clients. 

So to all the males who complained about only males having to run, my answerer would be, why should the women run from her when they are actually doing what they are suppose to do.

Now let’s look at the males.  We can see that this is clearly a typical white male dominated company.  You can count the number of black men with only one hand and still have plenty of fingers to spare.

Our heroine walks past a boardroom consisting entirely of males who are trying to make a conference call, she walks past cubicles consisting exclusively of white males, and then she walks passed offices also consisting exclusively of males.  Clearly we can see that all the prominent positions are held by males.  Apart from our heroine it seems that no position of prominence/management is held by a woman, only men.

If men hold such important positions then you would be expecting them to be working very diligently but in this case they are all lacking off and doing everything that they are not been paid to do.

Would this then suggest that men have an expectation that they do all the delegating and women do all the work?  So if our heroine is proving to be a good boss she will make sure that all her employees are working for their salaries, not just the female ones.  In this ad we see a woman who refuses to accept male shit and expects them to do what they were employed to do, here we see a woman who has no problem in smashing (white) male entitlement. 

So now I ask you, is a female boss who expects male employees to work just as hard as female employees sexist?  Well I guess according to MRAs and their supporters she is. 

But let us not stop here.  If we look at the corporate world you would have to be living on another planet not to know that it is heavily dominated by white males, that women are constantly discriminated against when it comes to things like pay, promotions, employment etc, that women are frequently having to put up with sexual harassment and endure hostile male dominated environments. 

Getting back to the ad we can see that this company is no exception as we can clearly see it is a very male dominated company.  The song “here comes success” implies that this woman has entered a white male dominated corporate and made a huge success.  Despite all the male sexism she had to put up with she still made it.  The males where unable to keep her down and from reaching her true value.

This ad clearly empowers women.  It sends out the message that despite all the male sexism and harassment women face they can be a success and can reach their full potential. 

The problem we face is that we live in a male dominated world where everything revolves around the male.  In a male dominated world there is no uplifting of women there is only male privilege and arrogance.

Men, who hate this ad, hate it because it shows that women can rise above male privilege and arrogance and make something of their lives.  That women don’t have to exist for the exclusive pleasure of men.

These men hate powerful women and anything that helps these women obtain power is considered sexist, humiliating to men and just down right wrong.

And then there is the scene in the elevator close to the end when she gets in next to another white male who is made to look like he wet himself with fear when his pen in his pocket starts to leak.

It is quite obvious that he is completely intimidated by her.  Naturally the MRAs go to town on this creating the impression she is pure evil.

But in a white male dominated corporate the first thing that comes to mind is that he was most likely one of those males who tried to hold her down, stabbed her in the back, excluded her from important meetings so that she would fail and look like a complete looser, took the company’s male clients to strip clubs while she worked and made deals with them on the golf course white she was made to look incompetent.

Now through genuine hard work she has the power and he is terrified of what she can do to him.  The fact that she did not fire him and allows him to continue in his job actually shows that she is not the evil one.

I think what upset me the most about his ad is that so many MRAs and men in general went to town in making this ad look bad and so few feminists challenged them and showed how this ad can motivate and inspire women when it comes to male sexism.

If feminists are not taking a stand, is it because they believe that this ad humiliates men and does not empower women?

Stills from ad