Firstly, thanks for the wonderful reception to my October introduction post.
 
In 1924 a great Hollywood actress named Lauren Bacall made a profound statement and then asked an equally profound question… she said, “A woman isn’t complete without a man… but where do you find a man - a real man - these days?”
 
During women’s month this year I toured South Africa and spoke at corporations and organisations about the “Brand Woman”. Halfway through the presentation I do a word association test to suggest the power of branding by using popular brands.  It goes like this… I’ll say BMW and the audience will scream words they personally associate with the brand such as “Ultimate driving machine”, “Black Man’s Wish”, “BEE”, “Expensive” etc… you get the point. Whenever I arrived at “Brand Man” the screams came with unusual ferocity… with uncomfortable words like “Useless”, “Dogs”, “Players”, “Cheaters” and so on… every now and then, once the pandemonium died down, one or two women would stand up and defend the “Brand Man” based on her experiences with a father, brother, colleague or partner.
 
It seems that, 84 years ago when Ms. Bacall yearned for a “real man” the “Brand Man” had already begun his descent. My job here is not to defend men, nor serve to uplift him; it is, however, to continue probing the power of the “Brand Woman”.
 
Is it possible that the “Brand Man” feels as though he has lost total control and doesn’t know how to ask for help from the opposite sex and therefore manifest his confusion through a mask called “ego”? Would it be beneficial for strong women to band together and hold workshops and seminars about the evolution of the “Brand Woman” and invite men to educate, expose and empower men about how you want to be treated in the workplace, at home and socially?
 
This year saw the publication of Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care by Kathleen Parker, a pithy Stateside newspaper columnist who prides herself on her Coulter-esque capacity to say the unsayable. “I think men are confused because they are receiving conflicting and often confusing messages from women and culture,” she explains. “We want them to be providers and protectors – except when we don't. We want them to count our contractions and share baby's midnight feedings, but then we want them out of the picture when we tire of them.”
 
There’s a wonderful report by Elizabeth Day in the UK Observer which highlights the decline of the “Brand Man” and how you can make a difference and strengthen the “Brand Man” at the same time! Click here to read more (Depressed, repressed, objectified: are men the new women?)
 
As we continue to interrogate the power of the “Brand Woman” let’s remember that when only one sex wins, both sexes lose.