[ANOther]

With Father's Day coming up next weekend the department-store and big-box-store flyers in the Sunday paper had lots of "Get this cool stuff for Dad" sales pitches, and as I looked my inner feminist suddenly sent up a red flag. Tell me if I'm wrong, or if my bias is in play, but when I look at the flyers in May vs. in June I see:
- For Mom: flowers, candy, jewelry, accessories, maybe a gift certificate for the day spa
- For Dad: tools (shop/garage or yard), sporting/camping stuff, car stuff, grill stuff, hobby stuff (anything but the necktie!); there may be suggestions for flowers, candy (or other edibles) and bling but they're way down the Dad list
(A phone call, brunch/dinner or a day out ETA 06.16 or cologne/toiletries are probably about equal for both sexes)

What does this say? That when Mom has downtime from housework or pay work she wants to be pampered, while when Dad has downtime he wants busywork? Doesn't Mom do sports; wouldn't she like a new set of golf clubs, the latest fitness equipment or a nice new yoga mat? When she does hobbies, wouldn't she appreciate the most state-of-the-art yarn and knitting needles or scrapbook supplies? (This may sound a bit sarcastic but I don't intend it that way.) Wouldn't she like a snazzy new set of high-end pots and pans, a vacuum cleaner or a washer/dryer? Those are Mom's tools! (And yes, there are women who do use power tools!) The day spa for Dad? Only if he's a metrosexual (I like the British term better: fauxmosexual)!

What do you think? And also with this in mind, can you think of any other instances of casual everyday sexism you see in our culture? Not partisan issues or issues where one sex is really seriously discriminated against (those are issues for another thread, or another forum); just the assumption that "he" is hardwired to like this while "she" is programmed for that. (I'm sure girly-girl pink pink pink will be Exhibit A, but anything else you can think of ...) And no arguments about the overcommercialization of holidays instituted to honor Mom, Dad, God (per the dictates of your conscience) or country. I know all about those, so let's just assume we're cool with holiday shopping done in moderation.

[Misora]

Lol. Loving fauxmosexual. My dad is very much a metrosexual with his season symphony tickets that him and his best guy friend go to (my mom slept through our orchestra concerts growing up) and a love of pedicures. I did actually give him a spa gift certificate for his retirement.

Personally I always laughed at the father's days cakes that had golf clubs on them or power tools. The mother's days cakes with flowers or hearts are way more generic but as I pointed out there's only one thing all father's have in common and while they do put them on a cake it tends not to be for family consumption.