Sexism on Mother's Day??

Ah Mother’s Day.

What a fun yet stressful time. This year I was really trying to get creative with my presents, but I was fresh out of ideas. I asked my mother what she wanted, her response was a picture frame. A picture frame for the woman who went through 9 months of carrying me in her uterus, went through hours of labor to birth me, then spent years making sure I stayed alive (22 years and 11 months to be exact because I definitely still do not know how to navigate through life without her). A picture frame.

Anyways, the situation got me thinking, what the heck is Mother’s Day all about? Like where did it come from? Why is Mother’s Day all about giving Mom a day off, while Father’s Day is advertised as the day Dad actually hangs out with his family? I have questions and I need answers!

Well instead of answers, I found myself mind boggled. I Googled “Mother’s Day” and immediately saw “People are angry at Spotify over this tweet,” what have you done Spotify I asked myself, and clicked away to find this. A sexiest and ageist message. Maybe the people over at Spotify have been hanging out with the Bud Light advertisement crew? (Seriously, how do these people come up with this stuff and not get stopped??)

I started to think about it, and I’ve realized that I have been seeing subliminally sexist messages all along. Like this one from Mother’s Day last year:

As if all a woman wants for Mother's Day is a gift for the kitchen.

Companies are doing a surprisingly good job at playing into gender stereotypes in a discreet way. Why do we always see commercials of the stereotypical woman, at home in the kitchen or living room, taking care of the children while cleaning the house, with dad nowhere to be found? Why can’t we see more Mother’s Day ads that show the hardworking moms who do more than clean the house and cook dinner? My mom is the breadwinner in my household, if her priorities were like the mom’s portrayed in these advertisements, just holding a baby in the air all day or using a Clorox wipe to clean the table, I probably wouldn’t exist. My family would consist of my parents and my older brother. They would not be able to afford an Alley.

Also, did you know that the US ranked 30^th on the “State of the World’s Mothers” report in 2013? The report takes into account the well-being of women and their children in over 180 countries. The US fell behind most of the developed world, which is extremely alarming. John Oliver did a funny skit to touch on the topic of how we treat our women here in the US:

As for my mom, she did not get her picture frame. Mainly because I felt she deserved something more and partially because I couldn't find the one she was looking for (I'm helpless). However, she did have a good day and she cried happy tears over the presents she did get, as opposed to the pissed off tears she would have had if I bought her a small kitchen appliance.