Dove is making waves on social media with a new ad for baby products that features a transgender mother.
The ad, titled "#RealMoms," features women from all walks of life — first-time moms, working moms, single moms and others — discussing what it means to be a good mother. But the ad’s most striking moment comes from a woman named Shea, who identifies herself as a transgender woman.
“We are both his biological parents,” she says, seated next to her son’s mother. “You get people who say, what do you mean you’re the mom? We’re like, yep, we’re both going to be moms.”
The ad is earning both praise and criticism from LGBT advocates.
“Love how inclusive Dove is for all walks of life, regardless of color, gender and sexuality. Keep it up!” YouTube commenter Rafael Huezo wrote.
"Beautiful commercial trans are people trans are moms trans are dads trans are equal human beings period," commenter Michael35 wrote on a story about the ad.
Others, like conservative commentator Mark Dice took offense at Dove referring to Shea as a mother. Dice contends Shea is scientifically the child’s father and should be referred to as such.
Dove’s ad is part of a rising trend in advertising that some refer to as “marketplace queerness.” While most LGBT advocates favor the trend, which embraces the normalization of queer lifestyles, a small section of the LGBT community says brands are aligning themselves only with those who support gay and transgender rights while still remaining insensitive to queer customers.
CORRECTION: The metadata of an earlier version of this story included a sentence that used incorrect gender pronouns when referring to the mother featured in the ad. The sentence has been corrected. Scripps regrets the error.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
