To think Center Parcs should be ashamed of this

[ReallyCenterParcs]

I think it may have been deleted now, but not before Center Parcs hid or deleted comments pointing out the stereotyping and misogyny of this Facebook post...
One comment I saw said mum's not keeping up because of all the shopping, cooking, washing and organising she had to before the family got to sodding Center Parcs in the first place. And she's riding a shite bike they've given her

I love it and it makes me proud when my children are enjoying cycling so mucho or so eager to get somewhere that I can barely keep up with them - something much more common now the youngest is 8!
I think I probably had several keep-up-mum moments in center parcs and they are sweet memories.
There weren´t any keep-up-dad moments because a) he didn´t come and b) he is a competitive cyclist (as in takes part in races, not competing against his family) so very few people can leave him behind on a bike, even an over-excited 8 year old on her first trip to the C-P pool.

Really? We like it. We first went over thirty years ago. Visits have not been regular, but for a multigenerational family group, it’s suited us. We’re going again later this year.

It's not a joke about mum, though. It's not a joke at all. It's just about the enthusiastic ebullience of children thinking they're the fastest and showing off.

The child turning round can only see mum because of their positioning, so that's why she's addressing her. Mum isn't lagging behind; she's pretty much on a par with dad. If she was further forward she'd be in danger of bumping the child ahead. This young woman could very easily keep up with her young daughters.

It looks very much to me like its a caption used to fit an image they'd already decided to use.

I think the post directly below yours does it to some extent. It’s to do with millennia of imbalance between the sexes. I think you know this 🤷‍♀️

Well, quite!

I don’t like the CP ad but this post is incredibly offensive and patronising. Honestly what goes through their heads before they click ‘post’?

But how do you know the woman in the picture is the type who constantly does everything for everyone rather than someone who’s in a similar situation like PP?

The woman in the photo is fictional?! She doesn’t have a backstory beyond what’s there in the image.

What’s important is that she is being called the slow one. That’s all we know. That’s the one thing CP have given us here. Mum is slow.

So, given what we know (despite many pp pretending not to) about the colossal weight of sexism against women over the centuries, and how part of this rests particularly on middle-aged mums being dull, less fun than young-at-heart dad, do you think this was the most intelligent marketing decision?

It’s not “offensive” as such. It’s just a reminder of where mum sits in the pecking order in the wider consciousness.

So your response to apparant sexism is to attack the intellect of women on mumsnet?

Hhhhhm.

It's not a joke about mum, though. It's not a joke at all.

And this is the crux of the matter

People are taking it as some sort of "joke".

It's not.

It's a strapline. A tagline. An attempt to tug at nostalgia.

Not. A. Joke.

It’s a light-hearted comment. It’s not ‘a joke’ with a punchline or a pun - I think everyone knows that.

It’s jokey in tone.

The problem is that the single characteristic they’ve chosen to highlight is mum is slow

And because this is advertising, we can assume that mum being slow is the thing mums are supposed to identify with here. That’s basically how advertising works. That’s even without the ‘that moment’ element that directly invites everyone to identify with this experience of mum being slow

People are acting all confused about accusations of sexism, as if they haven’t grown up in a world in which middle-aged women are at the bottom of the pecking order. No, it’s not blatant sexism. It may not even be deliberate - it’s just a bunch of men in marketing dumping their ingrained prejudices onto an ad campaign. It’s not malicious. It’s ingrained.

But it is there.

But mum isn't slow @GreenAppleCrumble

They're all together in a group and she's a couple of inches away from being level with dad. She could easily overtake one of her small daughters if she wanted to.
She's being told to keep up by a small child who thinks she's the fastest and doesn't realise that parents deliberately stay behind. Mum is being addressed because she'd the one the child can see.

As I said before, it looks as if the tagline was made to fit an image, rather than the other way around.

I agree with you about millennia of sexism and inequality, though!

Well, of course she’s fictional, the whole situation is fictional, yet people will interpret it (and see it as sexist or not) based on their own experiences.
Some posters assume mum is tired after packing, organising, cooking, cleaning and so on, while others think she’s just taking it easy and the child shouting “Keep up, mum!” is excited and not implying mum is always slow.

I couldn't care less about this. I can't be offended by this.

If I was in that holiday I wouldn't be in the bike - I'd be the in the cabin having a glass of wine

Things the daughter could have been saying -

'can we get ice-cream after?'
'can we go to the pool after this?'
'best holiday EVER'
'I wish we didn't have to go home'
'could we do (insert things CP offer, I've no idea I'm too poor) tomorrow?'

There's a bunch of stuff she could have been saying that didn't involve rolling her eyes at mum.

Now, if it were my kids I wouldn't even be in tbf picture, I'd be upside down in a bush just out of shot cos I hate cycling. They'd be saying' fgs, dad, mum is in the bushes again!' But it's not about me personally, it's about all of us as mums & middle-aged women being slow & boring & not joining in & not being fun & & & ad infinitum.

It's not about the dad, it's not about the daughters, it's not about any one person's experience it's the sweeping statement of 'That' moment. So well recognised, so 'mum is useless at doing anything fun' & it can fuck right off with it.

(fwiw, not offended, just bored of it all)

Well, of course she’s fictional, the whole situation is fictional, yet people will interpret it (and see it as sexist or not) based on their own experiences.

The interpretation isn’t intended to take place in the context of each person’s own experiences as such, though; it’s the popular interpretation that counts in advertising. Even those posters who are earnestly pointing out that they are better cyclists than their husbands must be aware that the popular perception is that men are going to get stuck into these fun, active pursuits more readily whilst boring old mum trails behind.

It’s just tedious when advertising perpetuates this. That’s all.

She's not even a middle aged mum! She's a young woman. Tell you a lot about the level of projecting here

You can't be the butt of a joke if it's not a joke.

They AREN'T calling her slow either. The implication is excited children wanting to get everywhere fast

If they were calling her slow she'd be miles back in the picture. Not just behind them, level with the man

@ButWhatAboutTheBees but why are they telling her to keep up and not dad if they are both equal? That's the point. If they want it to be because the girl can see mum as dad is behind her, why didn't they put dad in that position, so it wouldn't be the typical mum being slow /not getting stuck in scenario.

I thought the “ butt of the joke” was about Centre Parks was all about 😉

Because the little girl is calling to her mum?
Like kids often call mum not dad to "keep up" or "watch me" or "can we do ..?'
She isn't calling her mum slow

You can't be the butt of a joke if it's not a joke.

Don’t be silly. If you make a lighthearted comment at someone’s expense that’s, colloquially, a ‘joke’. It doesn’t have to start with ‘knock knock.’

Look, it’s a poor marketing decision. They would have been better to use ‘dad’, yes, because it removes all doubt that this might be a sexist dig at existing stereotypes.

I don’t know why some women are so determined to give men the benefit of the doubt. God knows they haven’t earned it!

😂😂😂

"I don’t know why some women are so determined to give men the benefit of the doubt. God knows they haven’t earned it!"

And you have the utter gall to complain about sexism?? Clearly, self-awareness isn't one of your strong points. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Well some call themselves feminists but they deplore those silly women, who are not womaning properly.

Erm, what?

There was a discussion upthread about sexism and how it works. You could do with reading it.

Just to check, are you a woman? Do you think that sexism is as simple as making critical comments about one sex, and that it is completely “the same” whether it’s women or men being criticised?

Wrong!!

I’m kind of embarrassed for you with your attempt at a ‘gotcha’ there.

In brief, the male class of people has systematically oppressed the female class of people since the dawn of time. Therefore light-hearted jibes towards women that play on stereotypes steeped in oppression are not cool.

Pointing out that men (as a class) have not earned the benefit of the doubt from women (as a class) is about as controversial as saying white people have not earned the benefit of the doubt from black people - ie not at all controversial.

HTH.

Feminists are just as capable as anyone else of noticing when people (including women) are being obtuse.

It’s not about ‘womaning’ correctly; it’s about thinking clearly and standing up for women as a class. I don’t have to applaud every idiotic thing every individual woman says.

Of course you don't have to applaud every idiotic thing a woman says @GreenAppleCrumble and we all say lots of idiotic things.

But as has been shown on this thread and is seen on MN frequently, women are often criticized, insulted and deemed stupid by other women for having made choices or comments that they perceive as unfeminist.
Such feminists believe that they are the gatekeepers of what it means to stand up for women as a class, and other approaches are wrong, and indeed stupid. It is so divisive and damaging to the cause.

To be fair, my flippant comment above was undeserved and inappropriate in the circs: I was adding to a response to one of your comments, but your comment wasn't unreasonable, even if I don't feel similarly. Apologies.
However the sentiment still stands. Lots of women are put off feminism by the rigidity and annoyance shown to them by many feminists.