The brand of feminine hygiene products Always aired an ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl called “Like A Girl.”  The ad opens with a split-second shot of a forlorn boy of about ten in a yellow t-shirt, then cuts to a female voice saying, “Show me what it looks like to run like a girl.”  And then, “Show me what it looks like to fight like a girl.”  Five actors, two boys and three girls, perform what it looks like to run and fight like a girl.  They lay it on thick with clumsy, flopping wrists and wobbly, stumbling legs.

The sad boy comes back on and is told to “throw like a girl.”  He raises his arm and slumps forward with a groan of discouragement.  The female voice says, “So do you think you just insulted your sister?”  With a twisted mouth and pained expression, he says, “No,” and then confesses, “Yeah, insulted girls, but not my sister.”

The casting call for the ad was directed by Lauren Greenfield, whose work is described as focusing on gender and the self-esteem crisis and empowerment of girls.  During the ad, there is a “behind-the scenes” shot of a person from the back who appears to be the questioner.  It is difficult to tell if this person is male or female, but if this is the questioner, she is female.  It’s better odds than offered for a Patriots v. Seahawks game that this script was written by a member of the sex and gender minorities – to which the majority of girls will never belong, despite relentless media brainwashing.

This ad follows a brand of feminism I’ve dubbed gynecism, which has exacerbated the crisis of American childhood for both girls and boys.  The feminine product line uses a slogan that encourages girls to “Break the Rules.”  What rules are girls benefited by breaking?  American childhood is in crisis because adults have become extremely adept at breaking the rules of family life: 80% of black children, 60% of Hispanic children, and 40% of white children are born to single mothers.  A mountain of evidence suggests that the crucial factor for self-esteem in girls is the protection, support, and encouragement of a father.  A loving brother is also an important advantage for a girl.  The only family connection mentioned in the ad is the brother-sister relationship, and it is the brother character who is accused of belittling his sister.  The ad also suggests that girls are so fragile that they can’t survive being teased by their brothers.

Gynecism diminishes the traditional family into a political construct in which brothers and husbands mistreat sisters and wives.  “Like A Girl” presents the kid’s version of the jealous fixation, casting all males as abusers and females as victims.  If whoever made this ad looked beyond a warped, genderist propaganda to the well-researched psychology of empowerment for girls, he or she would have chosen to portray a brother teaching his sister to ride a bicycle, or a father being his daughter’s track coach.  And there is a special toxicity and danger in fight-savvy, depicting aggressive and angry young girls, as how girls should “fight like a girl.”  Are girls being encouraged to take a whack at boys or other girls?  We saw how well throwing the first punch worked for Mrs. Rice.

Denial of the differences in muscularity and strength between boys and girls, as well as within any group of girls, is a setup for physical and mental injury.  Some aspects of the “Like A Girl” ad might be helpful for girls growing up in rigid patriarchies, such as in some Islamic societies, but in mainstream America its underlying messages are harmful.  Always.