Perspectives: Is the Viral U.S. Army Ad Empowering or Emasculating?

A U.S. army ad went viral last weekend after a Twitter user spliced it together with a Russian army ad to show a difference in the tone and messaging. Two AllSides writers, one from the left and one from the right, share opposing perspectives on the ad below.

The Russian ad shows physically fit men waking up at the crack of dawn, doing pushups, shooting guns and jumping out of airplanes. (We don’t speak Russian, so we’re not sure what it says.) Meanwhile, the American ad is a colorful cartoon telling the story of...