Maybe The Peloton Commercial Lady Just Enjoys Riding

Inventing Sexism Isn’t Just Silly; It’s Damaging to the Real Goal of Recognizing and Opposing It

Far too many of us are confusing unnecessarily manufacturing artificial outrage with being “woke”.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. There’s always someone who wants to voice their displeasure without fully understanding what there is (or is not) to be upset about, and the recent negative response to the Peloton commercial “The Gift That Gives Back” is the latest shining example.

We do need to be on the lookout for inequality, sexism, and toxic behavior. That’s different, though, than injecting those things into situations where they are not naturally present just so we can attack them.

In the commercial, the woman receives a Peloton exercise bicycle as a Christmas gift from a man we’re supposed to assume is her partner. If we take her reaction at (no pun intended) face value, she seems both surprised and pleased to receive it.

This is probably the point where we first start losing folks. Undoubtedly, someone out there who wants a reason to be bothered by this commercial is thinking, “Well, maybe she was just ACTING surprised and happy to receive it.”

That’s definitely what happened, and do you know how we know that? Because the real woman is an actress in a commercial. The character being portrayed isn’t real and doesn’t have real emotions. The fictional character isn’t faking delight at receiving the bike because she was made up by the people who did the writing for Peloton, and they want that character to be genuinely happy to receive the bike.

So, yes, we do have to take her reactions at face value. She’s not disguising her disappointment and dissatisfaction with being trapped in a toxic relationship with an overbearing male partner, this fictional 30-second character.