{"id":12941,"date":"2012-12-17T18:50:02","date_gmt":"2012-12-17T18:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=12941"},"modified":"2012-12-17T18:50:02","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T18:50:02","slug":"tis-the-season-to-be-sexist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/","title":{"rendered":"Tis
the season to be… sexist?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<p>
  There&#8217;s currently an ASDA advert doing the rounds of various websites
  (and the TV, I imagine, given that&#8217;s where adverts also exist) which has
  earned the ire of various commentators, including the <a
  href=\"http:\/\/www.mumsnet.com\/Talk\/am_i_being_unreasonable\/a1604633-to-think-the-new-ASDA-advert-is-the-biggest-pile-of-sexist-crap-in-a-long-time\">mighty,
  mighty Mumsnet<\/a> because they believe it to be sexist.<\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  Before we go further, have you seen the advert? If not, here you go:<\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  <iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\"
  src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QiTuiYtaMV4\" frameborder=\"0\"
  allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  Opinions vary as to whether this is offensively sexist or whether such labels
  are merely the result of &#8216;political correctness gone mad.\u2122&#8217;
  However, what is being depicted is pretty unambiguous, especially thanks to
  the &#8220;behind every Great Christmas, there&#8217;s mum&#8221; tagline at
  the end: Christmas is the result of Mum working very hard and (by inference)
  Dad being generally useless, not up to scratch and oblivious of her efforts.
  It falls squarely into what The Mary Sue terms <a
  href=\"http:\/\/www.themarysue.com\/dumb-men-commercials\/\">Dumb Man
  Commercials<\/a>, whereby in order to appeal to the (presumed) female
  audience, the advertisers present men as foolish when compared to the power of
  womankind &#8211; if the power of womankind is limited to, say, cleaning an
  oven.<\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  Now, lookit, there&#8217;s quite enough sexism going on at this time of year
  what with the pink aisle full of plastic dolls and retailers emblazoned with
  <a
  href=\"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/2010\/12\/14\/all-i-want-for-christmas-is\/\">gender-segregated
  gifts<\/a> without the whole of Christmas being laid firmly and squarely on
  the shoulders of women and negating the role of anyone else in the fulfilment
  of annual joy. No pressure, love.<\/p>\n
</p>
<p>
  This isn&#8217;t really a post about lambasting the ASDA advert &#8211; many
  people have done that, and more eloquently too. What it is about is
  advertisers&#8217;
  <em
    >perception<\/em> of who we are as people, and whether that matches up to
    how we really are and how we think of ourselves.<\/p>\n
    <p>
      Given the <a
      href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/news\/datablog\/2012\/dec\/11\/census-2011-religion-race-education\">results
      of the recent census<\/a>, we know that households such as the one
      depicted in the advert are not in the majority in the UK &#8211; far more
      people either live alone or are lone parents. So the assumption of
      &#8220;Mum&#8221; being the lynch pin for the &#8220;average&#8221;
      Christmas in the UK is not a reflection of reality.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      There will be many families who rely on Dad, or another relative. There
      will be many Christmases spent amongst friends, or as a couple without
      children (like my own Yuletide will be). There will also be many
      Christmases in the UK that people spend alone &#8211; either through
      positive choice or sad circumstances. Lots of people don&#8217;t celebrate
      Christmas at all, of course. But I am absolutely not going to get into a
      discussion of religion as well as politics.<\/p>\n
    </p>
    <p>
      Well, not for this post.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy
      sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social
      sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><div class=\"sd-content\">
    </p>
    <ul>
      <li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
      data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-12941\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button
      share-icon\"
      href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=twitter\"
      target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span
        >Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a
        rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
        data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-12941\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button
        share-icon\"
        href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=facebook\"
        target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span
          >Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a
          rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
          class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon\"
          href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=reddit\"
          target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span
            >Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-tumblr\"><a
            rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
            class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon\"
            href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=tumblr\"
            target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Tumblr\"><span
              >Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li>
              <li>
                <a href=\"#\" class=\"sharing-anchor sd-button
                share-more\"><span
                  >More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                  class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div
                  class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div class=\"inner\" style=\"display:
                  none;\">
                  <ul>
                    <li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener
                    noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-12941\"
                    class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\"
                    href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=linkedin\"
                    target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\"><span
                      >LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a
                      rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                      class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\"
                      href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=email\"
                      target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a
                      friend\"><span
                        >Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                        class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a
                        rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                        class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\"
                        href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/\"
                        target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span
                          >Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                          class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
                          <p>
                            This isn&#8217;t really a post about lambasting the
                            ASDA advert &#8211; many people have done that, and
                            more eloquently too. What it is about is
                            advertisers&#8217; perception of who we are as
                            people.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy
                            sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent
                            sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text
                            sd-sharing\"><div class=\"sd-content\">
                          </p>
                          <ul>
                            <li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                            noopener noreferrer\"
                            data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-12941\"
                            class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\"
                            href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=twitter\"
                            target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                            Twitter\"><span
                              >Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                              class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                              noopener noreferrer\"
                              data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-12941\"
                              class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\"
                              href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=facebook\"
                              target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                              Facebook\"><span
                                >Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                class=\"share-reddit\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                                noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon\"
                                href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=reddit\"
                                target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                                Reddit\"><span
                                  >Reddit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                  class=\"share-tumblr\"><a rel=\"nofollow
                                  noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                  class=\"share-tumblr sd-button share-icon\"
                                  href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=tumblr\"
                                  target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on
                                  Tumblr\"><span
                                    >Tumblr<\/span><\/a><\/li>
                                    <li>
                                      <a href=\"#\" class=\"sharing-anchor
                                      sd-button share-more\"><span
                                        >More<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                        class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><div
                                        class=\"sharing-hidden\"><div
                                        class=\"inner\" style=\"display:
                                        none;\">
                                        <ul>
                                          <li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a
                                          rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                                          data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-12941\"
                                          class=\"share-linkedin sd-button
                                          share-icon\"
                                          href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=linkedin\"
                                          target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                          share on LinkedIn\"><span
                                            >LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                            class=\"share-email\"><a
                                            rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"
                                            data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email
                                            sd-button share-icon\"
                                            href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/?share=email\"
                                            target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                            email this to a friend\"><span
                                              >Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                              class=\"share-end\"><\/li><li
                                              class=\"share-print\"><a
                                              rel=\"nofollow noopener
                                              noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\"
                                              class=\"share-print sd-button
                                              share-icon\"
                                              href=\"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/12\/17\/tis-the-season-to-be-sexist\/\"
                                              target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to
                                              print\"><span
                                                >Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li
                                                class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[13,14],"tags":[93,3996,4012,286,576,580,581,705,2018],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2xLWb-3mJ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</span
                                              ></span
                                            ></span
                                          >
                                        </ul></span
                                      >
                                    </li></span
                                  ></span
                                ></span
                              ></span
                            >
                          </ul></span
                        ></span
                      ></span
                    >
                  </ul></span
                >
              </li></span
            ></span
          ></span
        ></span
      >
    </ul></em
  >
</p>