Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham argued on Monday that a well-received Super Bowl commercial focusing on promoting young girls' confidence slighted boys, Media Matters reported.
"It's such a non-issue," Ingraham said. "First of all, boys are the ones who need more help in school these days. Boys are the ones who are falling behind girls. Boys are the ones who are seeing their sports programs cut because of Title IX because we have to have everything balanced. Boys are the ones who need additional help today."
The "#LikeAGirl" ad by Procter & Gamble featured several people acting out negative stereotypes associated with phrases like "throw like a girl" and "run like a girl" before showing girls authentically running and "fighting."
The company said in a statement that the people shown in the commercial were part of an experiment conducted by director Lauren Greenfield.
"In my work as a documentarian, I have witnessed the confidence crisis among girls and the negative impact of stereotypes first-hand," Greenfield stated. "When the words 'like a girl' are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering."
According to Ingraham, she watched the ad with several young girls during the game and did not understand it.
"I was a tomboy growing up," she said. "No one ever said I threw like a girl. No one ever said I fought like a girl. I could clock most of the boys on the playground, and I could throw a bullet. So, no one ever said that to me. So maybe I don't have empathy."
TechCrunch reported that the commercial generated the most chatter online on Sunday night. And the Washington Post noted that it fell in line with an overarching theme of Super Bowl ads being more inclusive toward female consumers.
Ingraham and her staff trashed the ad as "propaganda" and "PC nonsense."
"'Throw like a girl,' 'kick like a boy,' I mean, 'do pull-ups like a girl,' 'do pull-ups like a boy,' honestly," Ingraham said disparagingly.
Meanwhile, as the AV Club reported, several "meninists" also took issue with the commercial, creating the tag #LikeABoy in response.
Listen to Ingraham's remarks, as posted by Media Matters, below.
