Note from the Author:  The subject of this article can be very 
controversial.  The opinions that I share may not set well with some of you,
but they are my opinions and I am not suggesting that you make them yours.
When I write, you get the real me, whether you like it or not.  I would 
never hold your opinions or beliefs against you if they are not the same as
mine, and I trust that you will not hold mine against me.

I received an interesting email from my niece this past weekend.  This is the daughter of my brother.  Her name is Kim and this is her email:

The links in this email photo will not work for you so I will put them in for you later so that you can come to your own decisions.

Before getting into the meet of the argument, let me say that Gillette is owned by the Procter and Gamble Company (PG) and that I do not have stock in the company but I do have some call options in the company.  I have two January 17, 2020 call options (strike Price at $80) that I paid $1,268 for and they are currently worth $2,785 – up about 120%. And I have 2 January 17, 2020 Call Options (strike price at $82.50) that I paid $1,024 for and they are worth $2,415 – up about 136%.  I bought this round of options on 10/17/2018 when the market was headed down so to be up 120% and 136% in a period of 3 months is not too shabby.

The current price of PG can be viewed in the following graphic during the period 10/17/2018 – 1/18/2019 from Vectorvest:

Admittedly, the performance of PG does not look that great … it shot up then remained relatively level, or trading in a channel since about December 27th.  But let’s compare it to the stock market indices that it falls into (namely the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500) in the chart below:

The green line is PG.  The Red and White lines are the Dow and the S&P respectively.  While the DOW and S&P are down about 5.2% and 6.2% since October 17th, the PG stock is up about 11.7%.  Nowhere near the 120% or 135% return of the options, but up nonetheless.

Now that I have the investment part out of the way … and I believe the so-called negative effects of this ad have already been priced into the stock (which is why I am not selling my options at this time) … let’s take a look at this controversial ad that has the internet, the mainstream media and Facebook in a tizzy fit!

When I last viewed this ad there were 24,238,933 views and there were 664,000 likes and 1.1 million dislikes.  So far it looks like about 38% of the people who comment like it and 62% of the people don’t like it.  However, of all the views … only 7.3% said whether they liked or disliked it.

Here’s the ad on YouTube take a look at it:  Gillette Advertisement

I’ve watched the ad several times and I see nothing at all wrong with it.  Gillette is simply trying to get Men to be Reasonable Men so that they younger generation may follow that lead and grow up to be even better men.  They are using a “Negative Reinforcement” strategy (or at least that is what I call it) to do this.  They are showing what is wrong and how to make it right, in their opinion.  I have no reason to believe that this is going to have a long-term effect on the company or the company’s sales … even though there are those in the comment section that are suggesting “boycotting” the company.  If memory serves me correct there were also hundreds of celebrities that threatened to leave the country for “greener pastures” if Donald Trump was elected as the next US President … and I think they are all still here … must have missed their planes.

I find it rather Funny that the media has labeled this a “Toxic Masculinity” Advertisement.

Now let’s get on to the next ad that was ran by the CEO of the Egard Watch Company.  If you don’t know who that is you can find out more about this company right here:  https://www.egardwatches.com/

On January 16 this Tweet was posted by the Egard Watch Company CEO:

Now here’s this video that supposedly fights against the Gillette Video:  What is a Man?

In this video the CEO points out that …

• 93% of all workplace fatalities are men.
• 97% of all war fatalities are men.
• 79% of all homicide victims are men.
• Nearly 50% of all the fathers without visitation rights still financially support their children.
• Men account for 80% of all suicide victims.
• 75% of single homeless people are men.

He believes that we already are seeing the best in men.

I’ve got to tell you I like this video as well.  At the time I viewed it there were only 1,588,687 views, but keep in mind it has only been up for a few days based on the date of the tweet.  However, based on the number who liked it and the number who disliked it … 137,000 likes to 1.8 million dislikes … it looks like total views must have been at least 1.937 million or more.  So much for Google and Youtube tracking responses to videos, huh?

In any event, this guy is basically using “Positive Reinforcement” to get his point across.  As a leader for numerous years in my company … and as a father who helped raise two boys and two girls … I have found there is a time for both Positive and Negative Reinforcement.  Both are good and neither is bad if used properly.

Now that you have my opinion on the two videos – which is all that was asked for – allow me to share my opinion on Men and Women, weather you agree or not.

First of all they are both human, which means they should be respected as such.  However, regardless of what modern psychology and the mainstream press would like you to believe, my opinion is that they are very much different.  They have different biological, sociological and psychological features.  That is not to say that some women can be more masculine than other women or some men can be more feminine than other men.  But, on the whole … they are different human beings.

Now I can’t talk much about girls and women because I am not one.  The closests I ever came was dressing up like a woman and going to a halloween party with my sister as her girlfriend since she was dressed like a man.  I think I was 12 or 13 at the time.  And, no, I did not feel gay, though I did feel weird wearing a dress in the cold wind of Chicago in October.

However, I can talk about boys and men because I have been one and am now the other.  There are a lot of people out there today that think we raise our son’s to be “too masculine.”  I believe we don’t raise them to be masculine enough.  I am not talking about raising them to be bullies … but rather raising them to take care of those being bullied, really bullied (and not those feeling victimized because someone called them a name that may have hurt their feelings).  When I was helping to raise my boys, while I did not encourage them to fight with others … I would encourage them wrestled and fight with each other.  I could not stand the thought of either one of my sons becoming a victim to a real bully in school.  I wanted them to know how to protect themselves and be brave enough to.  I’ve always believed being brave and standing your ground is a whole lot better than being a coward or a victim of fear from the bully.  At the same time I taught my kids to get used to “name calling” by referring to them using the slang word of “Gook” or “Half Breed.” I taught them that names would not hurt them … and it only made a fool out of the one calling them the name.  Today they are proud to be half Asian and half American.

William Shakespeare said, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.”  I saw that proved out daily while in South Vietnam during the early 1970’s.  Heck, I even saw it in basic training … about 6 months before even going to Vietnam.

My dad never taught me and my brother to fight.  If we fought and could not prove that we did it in self-defense he would make us wish that we did not fight (yes through some corporal punishment of his own).  My brother and I did hang around a pretty tough bunch of kids when we were young, on the south side of Chicago, and we both did learn to fight – and after getting to the army I am glad we did.

Have you ever been in a hand to hand combat match or pugil stick match with people bigger than you.  If you don’t know what pugil sticks are … click on the link above and watch a brief video.  This was a pretty recent release of this video.  When I was in the army we did not have mouth pieces or full face helmets.  The only helmet we had was the actual combat helmet that does not cover the face.  While those pugil sticks appear to be padded and soft … appearances can be misleading.  Get smashed in the face with one and you will understand quickly that they could have been a little softer.  Oh I was glad I learned to fight by the time I got to the Army … I had no fear walking into that ring with stick in hand … if fact I looked forward to it.

“Boys will be boys” and I believe they should be allowed to be boys.  I believe at Christmas a boy should receive “boy” gifts and a girl should receive “girl” gifts.  I have one grandson and five granddaughters.  You will not find me buying the grandson dolls and the granddaughters toy guns and trucks. But, that seems to be the way the world is going today.

Do I suggest you encourage a boy to do something he may not want to do?  No!  But I do suggest you give him (as well as a girl) the opportunity to learn new things they may want to do.  If they like it … then encourage them to be the best they can be at it.  Don’t hold them back because of yours or societies beliefs.  I bought my son’s some boxing gloves when they were kids and let them have boxing matches.  This did not last that long and they did not enjoy it that much … so I did not encourage it.  However, if one would have said, “Dad I really like to box.”  I would have looked for a good gym and a trainer and would have encouraged him to take it all the way.

One of the regrets I have in raising my boys is that I did not teach them how to shoot guns.  I was not a big gun fan so I did not own anything but a shotgun to keep rattlesnakes at bay when we lived in the country in Texas.  As a kid, my dad never owned a gun and would not let one in the house.  Come to find out once they grew up I found out both my sons loved guns – and now they have me liking them.  They are both better at shooting them than I am – but I will catch up!  My dad would not even let me own a BB gun … but both my sons had them (purchased by me) and used to have BB gun fights (against my advice, of course).  In their young adult years (after high school) they would both participate in Paint Gun fights – which I had a hard time wrapping my head around – but I did not discourage it, and glad I didn’t.

My boys were raised to be boys and my girls were raised to be girls.  They were all raised, however, to believe they could do or be anything they wanted to do or be and be the best at it whether it crossed male/female lines of work or not.  My oldest son once served as my secretary at work (typically a female line of work) but he was great at it and was only in high school.  In fact, he is the one who got me to use the term “assistant” instead of “secretary.”  Later when my youngest daughter filled that role … she was also my “assistant” and not my “secretary” though they both had secretarial duties.  My oldest daughter once drove an ambulance (typically a male job) and from what I understand was very good at it.  I would often wonder how, considering all the automobile accidents she had when first learning how to drive.  However, she likes to drive and made a point to get good at it.  It would not have surprised me had she ended up driving in NASCAR for a living.  My youngest son always had a problem figuring out what he wanted to do when he grew up … so he went to school to learn about Auto Parts.  Today his is managing a large O’Reilly Auto Parts store around the Memphis TN area and is working on his leadership skills which will make him even a better manager.  My youngest daughter is the one who loved education so much that she decided to get a doctorate degree and now Dr. Samantha is on staff at Florida State University pursuing her dreams.

But again the boys were raised to be boys and the girls were raised to be girls and there was no thought on the part of my wife and I if we were raising either to be “too masculine” or “too feminine.”  We just raised them to be the best they could be and to think for themselves and make their own decisions about life.  Too many times we have “Child Psychologist” and “members of the media” telling us how to raise our kids when they themselves have never raised a child.  They seem to be so dead set against the discipline children sometimes needs.

The bible states the following on this subject:

So, my suggestion would always be to raise the kids in the Gender of which they were born and use discipline when necessary to keep them headed in the right direction.  And, no … the “Rod” does not necessarily have to be a belt or switch.  It can be a strong look, grounding, a good talking to, taking away the TV, or in my youngest daughters case … taking away her books.  It’s funny that one of my kids was disciplined by my taking away her books whereas another was disciplined by my making him read a book and write me a book report.  Eventually, as stated elsewhere in the Bible, they will follow this rule if you raised them correctly …

1 Corinthians 13:11

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (KJV)

Behind the word man if you add the words “or woman” … you will get the point.

The absolute worst thing society has done for all of us is to take “Prayer” and “Corporal Punishment” and “Patriotism” out of our school systems – all in the name of “Political Correctness.”  Face the fact that a child growing up today is in more communication with their school teachers and school friends than they are their parents.  They spend 8 hours a day in school.  They Spend 8 hours a night at sleep.  They spend 6 hours per day playing and doing homework which leaves them … if fortunate … 2 hours per day with parents.  And how many families today actually have dinner together?  Yet, the schools who are in control more today that two income families or single parent families refuse to discipline them.

I went to the daycare center one day to pick up my oldest son.  He was about 3 or 4 at the time.  The teacher said, “Mr. Nix, please come to David’s room and let me show you want your ‘little angel’ did today.”

I went to his room and was amazed to see black paint all over the white walls.  It seems that he’d got a black can a spray paint and decided to do a little graffiti work.  I asked the teacher what she expected me to do about it and what time did it happen.  She told me it happened at around 8:00 AM and she expected me to take him home and discipline him.

I said, “Wait a minute … this happened more than 8 hours ago and you expect me to discipline him now.  Let me ask you a few questions.  One, why didn’t you discipline him when it happened; two, how was he able to get the paint in the first place; and three, shouldn’t the teacher who left the paint in reach of a child be the one that is actually disciplined?”  Needless to say … I had to spend the next day finding a new day care for my child because the school wanted to hold the wrong person responsible for what happened.  That was my first experience with Liberal Thinking back in 1980-81.

So, let’s not get hung up on “Liberal TV ads,” or “rebuttals to those ads.”  Let’s not get hung up on the “MeToo Movement,” “Black Lives or All Lives Matter Movement” or whether or not “Name Calling on the Social Media Sites is Really Bullying or not.”  Let’s be adults and raise our kids the way they should be raised, let’s bring back “Prayer,” and “Corporal Punishment or Discipline,” and “Patriotism” in our schools, let’s “speak our minds when our minds should be spoken” without fear of what words we use to do it – and the world will be a far better place for our grandkids and their grandkids.

There, you have my opinion … I’d certainly be interested in yours … and yours too, Kim.

Thank you,

Jerry Nix, FreeWaveMaker, LLC