to be outraged by Nativity casting as 'Innkeeper's wife'!!!

[PIPERHELLO]

Daughter (6) has been cast as 'someone's wife' in the Nativity play at school. 'Innkeeper's wife' to be precise.

Err...hello!?

This is fucking not OK! In 2019, to be identified as 'someone's wife'.

Normally I am pretty relaxed about all things school, and I certainly feel sorry for he teachers' workloads, but come on people!? This is 2019 - no woman should be identified by her relationship to a man!? SURELY!

Itching to call them out on this. Itching!

so the Innkeeper is now Innkeeper+ wife, where as before the inn keeper was a girl or boy. How long ago was that? It's over 60 years since I was involved in nativity plays, and it was innkeeper + wife then.

If your DD got the role of Mary but they were referring to her as 'Joseph's Wife' then I might see your point.
Basically just echoing what @SleepingStandingUp has said...

@MinisterforCheekyFuckery I didn't suggest shoe horning into the script.

Even if you just imagine that it might "feel" better!

Reframing the idea so to speak, but not actually making any changes!

The good news...is that I am finding your responses v entertaining - I do still have a sense of humour - thank the Lord Above for that! ;)

This is genuinely not the sort of thing I get wound up by most of the time, I think it is just so casually done, and it really made me stop and think.

I think all the 'go home snowflake' comments (wish I was young enough to be classed as a true generation snowflake!) really should just pause to consider my POV on this...I agree it's not the most massive of deals, but I do think it's worth pausing to consider that it fucking IS casual sexism. And yes, there are plenty of worse things going on in the world, of course. But in a micro micro way, this is bad. And should be called out, when it can be.

minister that does it for me

Eee I love MN - learning about the outrageously outraged...

My daughter was a spaceman in her nativity. I was outraged (internally) because... there was no bloody spaceman in the nativity!!!

Perhaps Sandra could be a tax accountant or a plastic surgeon.

What is casual everyday feminism, and what's wrong with perpetuating it?

Inkeeper: "oh I'm sorry, sir. I don't have the authority to answer that question as although I am technically classed as the inkeeper, it's actually my Wife, Sandra, who is the proprietor of this establishment and I'm technically her employee"

You are absolutely ridiculous.

I very rarely say people are overthinking, especially about feminist issues, but in this case, I think I have to.

Kanga83, Mary was NOT the victim of a forced pregnancy. If you actually read your Bible, you’ll see she specifically consented to it:
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word”.
And OP - bear in mind the Nativity reflects events of two thousand years ago. Judea in approx 6BC was most assuredly NOT a feminist utopia! Under Roman occupation and law, women were pretty much chattels of their husbands. You can’t rewrite history to suit modern sensibilities.

this is bad. And should be called out, when it can be.

But since anyone involved in writing the story of the Nativity has been dead for thousands of years, how do you intend to "call them out"? It's not your DD's teachers fault that the Innkeepers wife wasn't given a name and her own compelling backstory in the Bible is it?

You will be laughed out of school, and the playground, if you complain about this.
You will look back on this in years to come and ache with shame (that's if you have any self-awareness at all).

I was always an angel until the thrilling year when I was Balthazar. I managed to survive the misgendering...

I went to a girls school, so both the innkeeper and his wife would've been female.

Ds was a lobster.

He was very upset when he saw the nativity scene ornaments and there was no lobster.

At least your dd is going to be human. Costume should be relatively simple.

Try making a lobster costume

You can’t rewrite history to suit modern sensibilities.

and yet... sadly it's happening.
George Orwell was scarily accurate in 1984.

This is not a feminist issue. The inn keeper is a key player in the nativity story. He has a wife. If she were to be called Barbara instead no one would know who the hell she was.

My husband was a tree in his nativity play, it was always very windy when his nemesis went past!

Ds was a lobster.

The teachers who managed to put lobsters in the nativity deserve a medal

Of was there a fancy diner at the inn that night?

I agree with others- If it's to be "historically accurate" and I use air quotes as a non-religious person, then the inn would be owned by a man and a woman would have been only worth anything had she married well.

If it is a thoroughly modern adaptation then fill your boots with whatever changes you want.

Looking back my primary school was pretty progressive (in the 90s) and I was one of the 3 wise hells angels, 2 female 1 male. We wore leathers and had to rap-I was mortified.
My daughter was a sheep ( gender not specified) They only had one sheep costume though so she must have been a very valuable sheep as there were half a dozen shepherds looking after her. No idea what gender the shepherds were I was too busy watching my DD to give a hoot.

I’ve just remembered my daughter was a pig in a nativity, we spent many hours learning her lines ‘oink, oink’ 🐷

I get where OP is coming from, and I think she has a point, but I wouldn't make a fuss about nativity play

Try making a lobster costume

Reminds me of Love Actually... "Eight is a lot of legs, David".

Bernard Innkeeper and Joan Innkeeper ( or whatever...)

Or Mr Innkeeper and Mrs Innkeeper.

I agree with you OP. Easily done without being a big deal.

The play is set 2000 years ago. Women didn’t exactly have professions (or any worth outside of their domestic roles) in 0CE Jerusalem. If anything they’re being historically accurate.