Sexism in the Super Bowl Commercial

In 2010, Dodge advertised their new Charger during the Super Bowl, and it was met with much controversy. The commercial’s target audience is men. It targets them by showing a series of men staring into the camera with a deadpan expression. Their thoughts are spoken through a narrator. It is their thoughts that sparked controversy.

It starts with the men complaining about the not-so-fun parts of life. For example: “I will get up and walk the dog at 6:30 AM,” “I will sit through two hour meetings,” “I will be civil to your mother,” “I will say yes when you want me to say yes; I will be quiet when you don’t want to hear me say no” (the ‘you’ in the last two examples refer to the wife). In general, people do not like having to wake up early to walk the dog or sit through meetings, and by lumping wives into the same category as these disliked activities, it says that listening to your wife is a chore. All this adds up to the reason why men should be allowed to drive Dodge Charger cars.

Through the men’s thoughts, we hear the men complain about catering to their wives’ wants and needs. These requests/expectations are not viewed in a positive light by the men being imaged. In a sense, they lump their wives in with all of life’s burdens.

The first issue of this commercial is the way women are represented. They are not physically seen, only talked about. The commercial portrays women in such a way that they are viewed negatively. It says that women are controlling and villains. This sort of representation caters to the men that feel downtrodden by women in power and by women who ask something of men. This also validates men who view women in this way. As put by Rakow, “popular culture images are for the most part men’s images of women.” This means that in this commercial, women are portrayed as men view see them, therefore they are unable to represent themselves.

There are stereotypes, created by men, about how marriages work. One such stereotype is that men have to listen to their wives at all costs in order to have a successful marriage. Men can have no individual freedom, always asking their wives for permission to do or buy something. This stereotype is seen in many commercials. Besides this commercial, an AT&T commercial, called “Married Friend,” shows a man having to ask for his wife’s permission before going to the movies with a friend of his. The wife keeps changing her mind, so the husband keeps changing his answer to fit his wife’s needs. This shows a lack of independence on behalf of the husband. This stereotype damages society’s view of marriage because it shows an incorrect power dynamic; it shows wives as controlling villain.

The reason why men are against listening to their wives is because history says that men are to be in charge, in charge of the household, in charge of providing for the family, in charge of their own lives. Deviating from this cultural norm in recent times causes men to feel like their masculinity is being jeopardized. So to assert their independence and to reconcile all the things they have to put up with, Dodge says that men should drive the Charger car without taking into consideration the wife’s opinion because their wives would just tell them no, further vilifying women.

In response, some women created their own version of this video. It is filmed in the same exact way: a variety of women staring into the camera with a voice over saying their thoughts. Those thoughts include “I will prepare meals for you,” “I will still bring home 80 cents on the dollar for doing the exact same job,” and “I will start 70% of all new businesses.” This video is made to give women their own representation of what it is like to be a wife and a woman without getting recognition.

This commercial is geared towards men in a sexist way. It tells men what they want to hear. It provides validation towards those men who might be against women or at least against being told what to do by women. The commercial also says that it can provide an outlet for men to rebel against their wives, as if men are teenagers rebelling against their parents. It damages the image of both men and woman in this way because it portrays women as villains and men as complainers, only thinking of themselves.