The Gillette ad did not air in a vacuum. Being better is, one would think, not an aspiration that society should limit to or cast upon men alone.

And yet, that's exactly what happens. Every awards speech, movie, TV show, ad, article, if it's about "gender x could such and such better", it is always about men.

That leads me to one of two possible, mutually exclusive conclusions.

  1. Women genuinely don't exhibit any problematic behavior that they should be encouraged to improve on

  2. Society only cares about regulating men's behavior, and is perfectly fine with women's problematic behavior

Thoughts on which it might be, or if there's some.other possibility?