Here's What Happened When Kids Were Asked If a Woman Could Be Santa
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Hoping to start a dialogue about gender inequality, creative agency Anomaly just released a video featuring a bunch of children debating whether a woman could be Santa. The numerous doubtful reactions suggest that gender stereotypes are alive and well and that people are exposed to them very early in life.
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Most of the children interviewed expressed skepticism that a woman could be Santa because she would "get lost in the sky," keeping with the stereotype that women are bad drivers, and "get a headache," among other things. One little girl said that the woman's baby would "crush all of the toys" while another said it would be difficult for a woman to breast-feed while traveling around the world, unknowingly succumbing to the argument that women try and fail to "have it all."
So what would a female Santa be better at? Cooking, according to the boy below:
You can watch the full video below:
Alex Holder, a co-executive creative director and partner of Anomaly, told Campaign Live that the idea for this video came to fruition after he created Elle's #MoreWomen campaign.
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"After working with Elle on its 'more women' campaign, which highlighted how few women there are in senior positions, we realized the debate didn’t stop at FTSE100 companies, Hollywood directors and politicians," Holder said. "Even Christmas’ top job is taken by a man. We want to get people thinking about the lack of powerful female role models, and where better to start than the head of Christmas?"
Stuart Smith, also a partner for Anomaly, said in a statement that the kids' answers were "uncomfortably surprising."
"We tested the idea by asking my kids, and their answers were uncomfortably surprising," Smith said. "What started as a bit of elfish fun about one issue, surfaced another: who and what are shaping our children's gender perceptions?"
Here are some social media reactions to the video:
