Does Anybody Else Ever Find is Strange that, Despite the Last 50 Years Worth of Cultural Change, Modern "Household Product" Commercials Continue to Star a "Stay-at-home Mom" Role?

Whew. Sorry for the long title.

But yes. Am I the only one occasionally bothered by the continued "Stay-at-Home" mom role often portrayed in commercials?

Really, it's not so much that they're still portraying the whole "Stay at home mom" thing. That is okay. Obviously, that still exists, despite what this woman likes to think. I support stay-at-home mothers if that is what they choose to do. That said, I also support and acknowledge the existence of stay-at-home fathers, single parents (both mothers and fathers), and of course, gay and lesbian couples with children (gasp!). Oh, and though they are rarer (to my knowledge), there are polygamist families, even in the United States (also, they're probably not all Mormon families living in Utah).

However, right now, I'm not here to discuss the number of different types of families out there. Really, I'm asking a question to people in charge of advertising these common household products: People, why are you not updating your commercials? Even Television producers are way ahead of you all (and I'm not talking about anything airing on TLC).

Before I get accused of appearing ignorant, I'll take a moment to point out that I do understand more than it may seem at the moment.

• Right now, I imagine that most people in control of this kind of thing are Baby Boomers. Here is (what I believe to be) a somewhat relevant XKCD Comic. (However, with SOPA blackouts, I can't actually check and make sure I'm linking to the right one.) Most Baby Boomers grew up in that environment - raised by a stay at home mother and with a working father.
• Obviously, though I cite "Modern Family" as an example of this Other-Family Acceptance thing, I realize that this sort of thing is very recent, where it seems that, in the past, the mention of homosexuality was just that - mentioned. It seems most of these shows never actually "starred" a gay or lesbian person.
• Homosexuality was considered a mental disease until 1973.
• No matter what I say, somebody is going to see me as "ignorant."

Back to advertising. To this day, why do so many commercials selling household products work to appeal to moms? First off, doesn't everybody need some of these products? I am not a mother, but I'm pretty sure that I still need to clean my house every now and again. I haven't bought paper towels in ages, but I do find myself wishing I had some. Oh, and Kix Cereal - "Kid Tested, Mother Approved" - what about fathers, grandparents, adoptive parents, aunts, uncles, and older siblings? Sometimes other people, not just mothers, get stuck with the grocery shopping.

What about Bounty's above "Dance Cooking" commercial? What message is that trying to send? "My husband tried to tell me how to clean the house, but WHAT DOES HE KNOW BECAUSE HE DOESN'T CLEAN THE HOUSE?" What silly husband thinks that it takes three sheets of Bounty to clean up a mess, because it only takes one. Of course!

tl;dr: Advertisers, we're living in the 2012, which is culturally and socially much different from the 1950's. Isn't it time to consider updating your ads a little bit?

Family History: Part I is Now Available on Amazon!

Please, check it out, share with your friends: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006T89E7W.

Seriously though, I'm proud of myself for doing this much. Part II will be up somewhat soon (hopefully), but it's hard to say when. Of course, I would love to sell at least one copy before putting the second book up there, which, honestly, who knows how long that could take? Honestly, it could take months, that's right, months, to even sell a single copy. In other words, I'm not exactly hopeful. I'll post to Reddit in a few days and see what happens there, etc. But, for now, it's just a game of waiting, watching, and plugging away.

Two Possible Covers, Perhaps?

Yeah, are they perfect? Of course not. But considering I did it all myself? Not terribly awful, I would say.

Another Brief Glimpse at "Family History: Part I".

           “William wants you to have a nurse,” Josephine sighed, failing to explain her husband’s reasoning, “I know you’re not even sixty, Joel, but the doctor said…” 

            “I don’t care,” he cut her off irately, “I don’t need anybody taking care of me, especially when it’s his idea.” 

            “William is only doing what’s best for you…” 

            “My stepson,” Joel interrupted, “thinks I killed his father. He’s certainly not going to look out for me.”

            “My father is just taking the doctor’s advice, I think,” Edward Alexandre shrugged in an attempt at helping his frustrated mother. “I don’t think he’s trying to kill you, if that’s what you’re implying.” 

            “Well, I’d like to kill me,” Joel snapped. 

In this scene, Josephine, the wife of William Thalo, tries to convince the rapidly aging Joel Barrett to consent to having a caretaker.  Joel, relentless and miserable, only fights the idea.

(Note: William Thalo is Joel's stepson, and Joel Barrett is the grandson of Collie Barrett. The scene in question takes place in 1885, seventy-three years after the first scene.)

And Now, Why I'm Here - A First Look at "Family History".

Family History.


What is it?

Put simply, and without much explanation, it's a project I worked painstakingly on for about 2-3 years.

And now, it's just "gathering dust" in my hard drive, because it's a 180k word monstrosity that I was sure was pretty much unpublishable.

Well...okay, so I didn't really try that hard, I'll admit, because reading so many "We don't like stories that are over 100k words unless you're Stephen King" was pretty daunting to me.

But, I kept it around while simultaneously working on my other (and current) project, The Night Life, thinking that I would one day do something with it.

And now, I think that day has finally arrived.

With the latest e-readers becoming so popular and self-publishing becoming more relevant, I figured that I might as well take this project and put it online. Hell, maybe I'll make $10, whereupon I could treat myself to a nice cheeseburger.

More importantly: maybe somebody would read it!

So, what's it about?

Well...it's about a lot of things.

But namely, it's about a family, and how they cope with an old curse.

But rather than attempt to type out a boring old synopsis, here's a preview:

Pressing the pen to the paper, Calvin Connor Dowling Deland began his last words: “It was the beginning of the end…”

            He paused to think, contemplating everything that had happened throughout his too-short life. He thought of Amber Ozzly, of Henry Austin and Marie, and of Northgate. He thought about all of the pain and suffering his ancestors endured and of the horrific consequences of fate’s twisted sense of humor. He thought of Jamie, time travel, and the limitless supply of drugs; Thalopolis, sex, Joel Barrett, and his mother. Though of course, nothing occupied more space in his mind than Collie. Picturing her face, he continued to write.

            “She was the beginning, and I was the end. She was the matriarch while I was the last loser at the end of the line… yet how could I possibly be the end when I’ve completely given myself over to the beginning?”

            “Because,” he scribbled, “I am not the end. My family line is not a line at all, but a circle. Because when you take a piece of string and connect the two ends, they will inevitably meet. Thus, like a circle, like Joel Barrett’s love for his wife, and like my enduring love for Collie, Family History does not end. In fact, it’s only beginning…again.”

            When he finished scribbling his last thoughts, Calvin gently placed Family History on the floor and replaced his pen with a small pistol containing a single bullet.