to boycott the Sainsbury's magazine due to an incredibly patronising campaign?

[BaronessOrczy]

Disregard the question of whether IABU by reading it in the first place

They've started a Dishy Dad's campaign. No real problem with the sentiment behind that.

It's the copy which accompanies it which has caused me to froth, ever so gently, at the mouth.

"Dishy Dads is our brand new campaign to encourage the nation's fathers to start cooking. And, to prove that all men have time to rustle up a meal, we asked three of busiest in the country, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, to share the quick, tasty recipes they use when it's their turn in the kitchen. Dads cooking sets a great example to kids and can make a real difference to their lives - just take a look at our quotes from some of the world's most famous chefs, all influenced by their foodie fathers."

So far, so gently patronising. But this is the paragraph which has caused me to consider boycotting the magazine, and, if I don't run out of chocolate get a handle on my annoyance, the supermarket:

"Dads donning the apron a few nights a week makes a big difference to mums, too, who can end up feeling more pressure than pleasure when cooking healthy, crowd pleasing suppers each day. Weekday meals don't have to be gourmet to be good, so come on Dishy Dads - get cooking!'

It's no real surprise that Slimey Dave's recipe is adapted from the River Cafe cookbook, that Nick Clegg's is 'cheap, quick and uncomplicated', and that Ed Miliband is making a mountain out of a molehill with his tuna melt.

It's so bloody self-righteous and patronising. And irritatingly smug. Look, a man with a pan in his hand! And he works too! Well done.

AIBU to be so annoyed by this?

Oh, and the survey part which accompanies this article is in association with Netmums

I buy it for the fab recipes, it's stuffed full of them... or used to be. They nearly always used to have fantastic articles about where ingredients came from, or good cultural articles.

If I switch, what is as good on the food side as it used to be? Jamie's mag? BBC Good Food? I read lots online but I like ot have something to flick through which isn't too expensive, and gives me lots of ideas.

i hate anything that is aimed at mums or dads, mums like this, mums shop here or lets hear it for mums but fancy expecting men to cook after a hard day at work. come on that is just mean and unfair

meh - it sounds horribly smug. My DH does all the cooking and he's still fuming about the sexist lady who asked him when he was buying a new iron if he needed help working out how to use it

YANBU

It can have space on my RANTY SHELF along with the P&G Sponsor of Mums campaign.

I just can't take stuff like that seriously. My husband can't/won't cook. I could throw myself on the floor, kicking my legs and banging my fists on the floor but for what? He heats up the pizzas on Wednesday so I have a night off. If I didn't cook, we'd be eating pizza every night, warmed up by himself, and I don't want to.

I dunno . The jaunty tone is bleurgh (but predictable), and 'help' is vair meh.

But I think the majority of its readers won't be in households which split domestic stuff equitably, and overall I think better to try than not - can't think how else they'd approach it tbh. And they do talk about men cooking 'a few' times a week: in my book that = 3 or 4 times so 50/50-ish split.

Sorry Op I dont see the problem.

I am a man, love cooking, in fact I spent a couple of hours yesterday cooking a tapas for the family, but cooking is still seen as "womens work" so any promoting of the fact is surely a good thing?

Ok, so what would the alternative be?

Quick made up statistic followed by call to arms wooden spoons.

"In 72% of UK households, women do the majority of household cooking. But 98% of celebrity chefs are men.

We know you CAN cook, if you want to. So let's do it!"

Then recipes from men that other actually admire instead of bloody politicians.

I actually quite like the sainsbos magazine.

Buy it every month, think 'I will cook that', never do, just dish up the old faithfuls, and sling the magazine in the bin.

It is a microcosm of my life, which can essentially be summed up as 'can't be fucked'

I find it massively annoying and I don't think YABU. But, sadly, it probably is true that a lot of men don't cook, or do it rarely, and to them and their partners the concept of them 'helping' in the kitchen is probably quite revolutionary.

Personally I'd boycott the mag out of the desire not to scream/puke/froth, but I don't think it would induce me to write to the store to complain as I would if I thought they'd published something seriously offensive.

Effing hate the 'men helping around the house' thing in general, though. They're not kids FFS!

If dh didn't cook we'd starve.

Actually, no we wouldn't. DH works away a lot so often I'm left to fend for the rest of us. I think it speaks volumes that dc1&2 do a lot of cooking

But I don't find cooking meals enjoyable - it's very much a means to an end. I like baking etc and do a lot of it. DH really enjoys cooking meals and where my idea of a treat is getting a takeaway, his is going shopping and getting decent ingredients to turn into a lovely meal.

However, the thought of DC, NC and EM being classed as 'dishy' not only makes me question the relevance of Sainsbury's in the modern world but also the eyesight and intelligence of the article's author

I don't see the problem - sounds like a good campaign to me

Patronising shite!

I thought about boycotting them just a couple of weeks ago because they call their world foods aisle the 'ethnic aisle'. I didn't realise only foreigners were designated 'ethnic'.

Oh, LDNmummy, did you not know the definition of 'ethnic'?

"Of or relating to a population subgroup (within a larger or dominant national or cultural group) with a common national or cultural tradition"

So, yes, in the UK stuff like curries, pasta, fajitas, whatever, could quite legitimately be called ''ethnic". It's not some racist conspiracy worthy of a boycott.

Mrs, I think you might have missed the point ... by the definition, all food is 'ethnic', isn't it? Not just the aisle with the spices and the coconut milk.

Yes, it is. But in a Sainsburys in Britain, some foods are more ethnic than others, no? I certainly wouldn't be offended if a supermarket in Bangladesh or whatever had an 'ethic foods' aisle full of Cornish pasties and Tizer.

Now there's something I've not had in years - Tizer!

I don't think so MrsR - all foods are ethnic, location doesn't change that! It's just a way of being rude to some of your customers, imo.

"all foods are ethnic, location doesn't change that!"

Yes, it does. See the definition I posted above: ""Of or relating to a population subgroup (within a larger or dominant national or cultural group) with a common national or cultural tradition""

I boycote it as you have to pay for it, Most supermarkets give thier magazines away free.

Just got back to this but I see LRD has summed it up quite clearly.