Saturday, 17 November 2012

Asda Christmas adverts accused of sexism

I managed to catch a bit of the news this morning before heading out the door. On the Sky news they were discussing Christmas adverts and revealed that Asda are being investigated because of complaints of sexism.

For those of you who haven't seen then the advert basically shows the Mum of the house running around doing everything and all the domestic duties.

I can sort of see this point of view in that in these enlightened times either partner can and does pitch in at Christmas. Indeed the battle that is Christmas dinner can be a team effort but...

Of the people I know and experiences growing up had it that way round. My cooking skills are adequate and there are things I do well, like Shepherds' pie, full English breakfast and my onion gravy is superlative. However I spent around a decade within the Scouting movement and acclimatised to exceptionally badly prepared food including soapy Spaghetti (don't ask) and potatoes so raw we ate them like apples. This has bred a kind of "it's hot, it's food" attitude that my long suffering wife is trying to get out of me. Thus, for Christmas dinner I'm banned from the kitchen.

My sister's Christmas dinners are like D-day. Every detail is planned in advance and there is a rigid time system that cannot be messed around with. As Monica Gellar would say;
"you don't know the system."

For the guys I know Christmas is a rare respite day from work and one we want to spend with the family. Though after a few hours of kid's tv and "Daddy, you fix it" or
"Daddy what's that?"
Or whilst making a grab for your newest boy toy/model "daddy my have it?"
You rapidly wish you were in the safety of the kitchen.

There is a reason dad's fall asleep (or pretend to be asleep) in the afternoon!

Maybe that is a generalisation, like the Boots advert that play to the stereotype that men are useless at gifts and are always whinging at a tiny sniffle but a generalisation rather than an obvious sexist statement like "Women can't drive" or "Men are stupid" which are obviously not true.

I sometimes think people these days are to quick to complain over small things and I know this is rich coming from me, a political blogger/star wars nerd, they should get a life.

1 comment:

  1. hmmm… Have to disagree with you on this. This advert plays to a stereotype that "mums" naturally do everything but are second class citizens who don't even get a proper seat at the dinner table, while "dads" are useless fools.

    And saying "For the guys I know Christmas is a rare respite day from work", does beg the question of what about the many WOMEN who work full-time too?

    Of course, it's only an advert but these things are beamed into homes remorselessly so perhaps it's no surprise they become the focus of cultural discussion?

    It will be interesting to see how this ad fairs in our annual poll on the best and worst over at christmasadvert.com. Perhaps I'm wrong and people will vote it up, while they laugh along with mirth?

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