Real Men Don't!

Real Men Don't used to be a fairly regular feature of the Whine Sisters Blog in the early days. Every now and then, we would find examples of things Real Men Don't do and share our thoughts. Real Men Don't… cheat on their wives, for example. We would, of course, have a handy example in Arnold Schwarzenegger this week. Real Men Don't… lie, steal, fabricate a Presidential campaign just to get more attention for a TV show… you know, that kind of thing.

Well, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher apparently like the Real Men Don't concept because they chose to use it in public service announcements to call attention to human trafficking/slavery. [image error] In April, they launched a series of ads to highlight their cause, Real Men Don't Buy Girls, starring some Hollywood names like Justin Timberlake, Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, and Jamie Foxx. The problem was that once ads hit the airwaves, critics blasted Demi and Ashton for dumbing down the cause, because they used humor to bring awareness to the issue. According to Kutcher, there are 27 million slaves in the world today, most of them women and children.

One of their chief critics, Nora Ramos, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, said: "This is what happens when celebrities do an issue divorced from the movement. Once you choose an issue and don't do it in collaboration with people who have been doing this for a long time, this is what you end up with. There is a general dumbing down that is going on and this is an example of dumbing down a social justice movement with the narrowest message possible." (Source: Fox11)

But Ashton defended the PSAs to Hope140.org (via E! news): "We came up with the concept of the 'Real Men Don't Buy Girls' campaign, which aims to engage people, specifically men, in the issue. To do so, we filmed short, funny videos about things 'Real Men' do, starring high-profile influential men and women," he explained. "The concept of the campaign is that real men do a lot of silly, even foolish things. But one thing they don't do is buy children for sex. That's not funny, and real men don't do it."

See for yourself? 

Click here to view the embedded video.

I'm on the fence. Yes, it's a serious issue and the approach seems a bit light-hearted. On the other hand, we're talking about the issue.

So what do you think? Dumbed down, in poor taste? Or bringing attention to an issue, engaging and educational? Have you heard that Ashton will be joining Two and a Half Men as a new character to replace a recently departing leading cast member who shall not be named? Will you watch, don't care,  or bad idea? Have any Real Men Don't additions for us?

Also, if you've ever wanted to see the Whine Sisters (almost) all together in one room, please join us for a Conversation with the Whine Sisters at RWA's National Conference (registration required) at NYC's Marriott Marquis, Thursday June 30 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Moderated by the fabulous Molly Harper (author of the very funny How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf).