This girl can

Kim Gehrig is the feminist director behind the recent Gillette advert which comments on masculinity. Much of her work has been an attempt to challenge stereotypes about gender, says

ABUSE hurled at the Gillette advert and its creators, which by now you’ve seen or heard about, is largely directed at its creator, Kim Gehrig, who has made more than one provocative “short film” about masculinity.

Australian-born, London-based Gehrig has wit and pathos in her work.

She made her name in commercials and music videos, winning awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD pencils, BTAA arrows and the UKMVA music video award.

In the lottery-funded she shows that women sweat when they exercise or do sport and points out that even if you “sweat like a pig”, you can “feel like a fox”.

Far more difficult to watch is

in which a boy abused by his father and bullied by

Think You’re a Man,

This Girl Can

You his peers grows up to be a misguided mirror image of his abusers.

Gehrig is a feminist. Her work aims to challenge stereotypical thinking about gender roles which, in a world rife with assault and abuse, seems to always hit the nail on its head.

Gillette chose to stand for something when it took its threedecades old tagline “The best a man can get” seriously.

The now viral advert Gehrig directed for them,

addresses the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment and age-old ideologies such as “boys will be boys. If they play rough/ fight”, etc. It is, as trend forecasting site, Trendhunter puts it, “brand commentary”: a top brand using its marketing efforts to join social and political conversations.

be,

The best a man can

The message is clear: the boys of today will be the men of tomorrow. Therefore teaching that violence or a lack of respect for the opposite sex is not the “manly” thing to do is commendable. Gehrig should win awards.

The amount of negative publicity, ranging from “this is a war on masculinity” to “she’s crazy” shows just how toxic masculinity is.

In a statement from Procter & Gamble to the media, the company said the ad was designed to encourage men to be their best selves.

The fact that so many can’t see that is more than disturbing.

Here’s an actual fact: 60 000 women and children are victims of domestic violence in South Africa annually, according to the World Health Organisation.