As a woman who likes fly fishing and DIY home improvement projects, it has always irked me how Mother's Day ads are geared toward flowers and sewing machines and Father's Day ads toward golf clubs and power tools. It is a true testament to how sexism is alive and well and living in our local ad agencies. While the time for change was during the sexual revolution, now seems as good a time as any. With the lines of sexual identity blurring more and more, shouldn't the world of marketing catch up?
As a result of Caitlyn Jenner and shows like Becoming Us, much attention is being drawn to gender issues. Again, that is not to say that Caitlyn will no longer love golf but rather to suggest that people of all genders can love all things equally. We really need to stop imposing such antiquated gender bias on consumers and, more importantly, on our young people. The reason these gender-based stereotypes still exist is because young people grow up conditioned to believe it and we have not put an end to the cycle.
In a time when more women are graduating college than men and there are a substantial number of stay-at-home dads, the advertisements for Mother's Day/Father's Day really should be gender neutral. A dad is just as likely to be in the market for a sewing machine as a mom these days. Not only is it sexist, it is a poor marketing strategy. Know your customers... It is 2015, not 1952!