This awesome ad from Procter and Gamble is very thought provoking, especially for those of us who believe God doesn’t place limits on women. Check it out. It will only take three minutes.
What can we learn from this?
What are the implications of its message for men and women in the church?
27 replies on “Procter and Gamble gets it right”
What are the implications? That people (men or women) should be treated like real, individual people, and not boxed using pre-conceived labels.
But they do, and that was the point of the whole presentation.
The question which was asked, and which I was responding to, was “What are the implications of its message for men and women in the church?”
And in very many churches people are treated quite differently according to their gender. Hence my comment that this should not be the case.
I’ve seen this video before, and I wasn’t sure I was convinced by its main point. My impression is that while girls sometimes internalize societal expectations, it’s also true that they choose behaviors that they themselves believe to be more feminine and thus “other” than boys their age.
Yes, “a girl’s self-confidence plummets during puberty”, but that is because it’s the way puberty hits us, boys and girls both.
Gary, it’s been my observation that while, as you say, some girls choose behaviours, too often their choices are limited by those very societal expectations you mention. Whether it’s subtle or overt, many girls are pressured into selecting from the “right” set of choices, rather than being allowed to simply be themselves.
It is awesome! I saw it and thought, at least someone is getting it right!!! There is another one from Pantene about women always saying sorry. Really Good!!.. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/5k8ny_CCpYo
🙂
Well a female is a human and a male is a human..the female has differences of function from a male in the area of sexuality for the purpose of reproduction but from thereon we can function equally unto our God for the purpose of his honor.
Agreed.
This made me cry – powerful and provoking!
Didn’t they do a good job?!
Thank you for posting this!
As a girl I often been told (not by my family fortunately) “you play like a boy, you climb like a boy”
First I was really upset, because I loved doing those things, but wanted to be a girl. After a time, during my teens (and tweens) I didn’t like to be a girl anymore-rather a boy/ a man.
Since a few years God is renewing me. He made me as I am – and that is a girl/ a woman.
What ever I do: It is done like a girl.
zisca V
And can be done with strength and capability!
Too bad whoever wrote the article didn’t get Procter right.
You’re right. My bad! Now changed.
People better hope we do things like a girl because we are to be Moms like a girl and grandmas like a girl, and friends like a girl, and lovers like a girl, and listeners like a girl, and have intuition like a girl, and be pretty like a girl…and even beautiful, inside and out like a girl, be musical like a girl, dance like a girl, and emotionally and physically strong like a girl, AND love our God that made us a girl. Enough said? Any questions?
Yes!!!
Society expects women to be equal to men in every respect. That includes using vulgarity, drinking, wanting to be priests, and risqué behavior like a man. Why? We have lost and ignored the biblical foundation outlining the place and purposes of the sexes. While redemption through Christ is genderless the roles and purpose of believers are not.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Jerry. I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one–at least if I understand the implications of what you are saying correctly. I will agree that men and women are different. As a physician that is something I cannot ignore–the chromosomes affect every cell of our body. However, too often the Scriptures are used to limit the roles of women–they cannot lead strategically or teach men. These role limitations are taken from a very few, controversial Scriptures which go against the general tenor and trend of the Scriptures as a whole. It’s like taking the verses that seem to approve of slavery and saying that God condones slavery.
Wow, I would hardly imagine that we should put all these things in one category of societal expectations. Is it fair to put a woman’s desire to serve God in a deeper way in the same basket as women wanting to curse and drink? Hardly!
Besides, if we believe the Bible, then we believe that women ARE already priests of God, according to 1 Pet 2:5.
You and I and all readers of this blog, Jerry, possess an inner set of societal expectations – no-one reads the Bible with a completely open mind. I have found, and I guess that you have too, that the Spirit rewrites our expectations and paradigms if we ask him to illuminate us as we read.
I could be mistaken, but I believe that my original, very traditionalist, view about women in ministry was mistaken and that my current, more Biblical-egalitarian viewpoint is more in line with Scripture.
I can report that I still don’t think women should curse, swear, smoke, drink to excess, or be lascivious, and probably never will.
As a clergy convert Catholic, I would start this discussion and refer to the Bible, early Church Fathers, and historical tradition. The Magesterium, history, and apostolic succession make it clear that presbyters (priests), bishops, and deacons lead the church as males. That is not to discount women ministering on many levels.
Jesus said he would build his church. Did He fail until the Reformation? The apostolic church was not invisible and didn’t begin with the Reformation. After all, Luther and Calvin wanted to reform the existing church rather than establish a new one. If we take away apostolic authority and succession and depart from the norm, we can subjectively interpret scriptures such as 1 Pe. 2:5 to authorize female leadership.
Who determines what is an objective interpretation of Scripture? So we have thousands of denominations claiming to be the authoritative church of Christ. Paul said there is neither Gentile or Jew or male nor female in Christ, bond or free yet Paul was not speaking literally. (Gal. 3:28)
Gary: I am referring to non-believers referring to a feminine behavior/lifestyle rejecting the biblical world-view. With the Judeo-Christian foundation of truth eroding away, the equality issue and place of women in society becomes subjective and relative to one’s philosophical belief system.
In general the article was positive for women but must be qualified for the believing female. The Church should influence (season) the culture but nowadays the culture seems to have the upper hand.
Well, I’ve already “taken away apostolic succession and departed from the norm”, so I’m afraid we’re working from two very different paradigms. I’m not going to engage in an argument about the Magisterium, only to say that I think the idea of a unified body of tradition since the apostles is a myth – for example, Tertullian believed in women leaders, Eusebius believed in some women leaders and rejected others, and other Fathers took other views. Whom does one believe?
You are correct, I think, that “With the Judeo-Christian foundation of truth eroding away, the equality issue and place of women in society becomes subjective and relative to one’s philosophical belief system.” This is why it’s important to remember that women’s equality, at least in the US, began as a Christian movement, not a secular one. So might that not suggest that secular feminists ought to rediscover their evangelical roots? That’s the whole premise behind the Christians for Biblical Equality.
It is called penis envy , it is a sin and it is encouraged more than ever by our masonic world that is putting God’s order upside down.
Seeing that same demonic penis envy in the body of Christ makes me sick.
A true Christian woman knows that man is her head and has absolutely no desire to even try to take leadership and authority away from man.
Gender equality is a LIE. Man is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man .
I’m not sure we’re all “getting” the same thing out of this. I think the point of the commercial was that girls SHOULD do things “like girls” – because we are…and that’s an awesome thing. We should embrace our femaleness – and no one, male or female, should diminish it by comparing it to how boys do things.
What I got out of it with regard to the implication for the church is that we should embrace our femaleness even in the church (and appreciate the “maleness” of the men) – without making comparisons between men and women. I think that would indicate not diminishing the roles God seems to have designated for women…or elevate those that Scripture seems to indicate that God has designated for men…
I enjoyed the commercial! The stereotyping about doing things “like a girl” was interesting!
Thanks for commenting. Your contribution is highly valued because what you write is thoughtful and insightful, and because you are not afraid to present an opposing view.
I agree with you that we should embrace our gender, but not that it should stereotype our roles. There are too many women in Scripture who play roles that tradition views as belonging to a man–and I don’t think that was because God couldn’t find a man to do the job! Think Deborah, Phoebe, Priscilla, Junia etc.
My main takeaway from the ad–especially comparing it with the church–is that many women in the church behave as they believe they are allowed to. They think their role is limited–and so they behave in a certain way. Remove those expectations, and women do so much more. Think of Heidi Baker, for example, who has started more than 10,000 churches along with her husband Rolland. Or ladies I’ve met in India who are responsible for thousands of churches.
Remove the “women aren’t allowed to do these things” mindset, and set them free!
DEMONIC ad from another demonic group that is deceiving women just the way Satan deceived Eve in the garden of Eden.
The Bible teaches us that MAN is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man.
God never pushes women to usurp men’s places and roles as our masonic world is doing more than ever.
Notice the subtle conclusion of the ad ‘and if doing it like a girl meant winning the race’ ? ‘
Get the demonic message ? Women will win , men will LOSE.
Instead of being silent and in submission to men , their head , women are devoured by a penis envy that has nothing to do with God’s spirit.
Self-appointed female preachers preach feminist witchcraft from the pulpit , an abomination to the Lord who wants women to be silent and submissive during church services.