Santa Claus should be gender neutral according to over 15 percent of Britons, and nearly one in five surveyed Americans, a poll on how to modernise the traditional religious holiday, carried out by Graphic Springs, found.
Some of the overall 400 people surveyed suggested that Santa get tattooed, take off his iconic suit and change into skinny jeans, as well as pick a hover board instead of a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
However, many expressed mixed reactions, with Twitter users increasingly opposing the gender neutral Santa:
"I'm all for equality but the idea that we should make Santa gender neutral or female is ridiculous!” one Twitterian wrote, with another stating “you cannot change history”: “Nicholas, the guy who started the whole stocking hanging thing was a man!!" he exclaimed.
“Why do people waste their energy getting angry about such obvious bullshit?” another expressed.
Others shared the same view:
Santa got a dick, he’s male. End of story, you people need to go swan dive off the Verrazano with this gender neutral bullshit https://t.co/7DV1NXrwrd
— broccoli rob (@Robby15m) 14 декабря 2018 г.
People are bitching about Santa not being “gender neutral”…
— Abby Mellott (@mellott_abby) 14 декабря 2018 г.
SANTA.
I’m moving.
I’m moving to a different planet.
What can I say? 💁🏻♂️There is a very real and concerted effort to strip men of all dignity and worth. We live in a sad world, when Santa can’t be celebrated and appreciated because he’s a man. Besides, gender neutral is a myth. Our kids stand no chance unless we teach them right. https://t.co/kiOgTjcEwC
— Chad Fisher (@cfisheronline) 14 декабря 2018 г.
Meanwhile, some social media users opted to chuckle it off, citing a “gender neutral TV host” and “Santa’s harassment trial:”
If the morning show on @1057FMTheFan can have a gender neutral host…. why cant Santa be as well?
— Sober Rick (@soberrick) 15 декабря 2018 г.
I just heard that now they want Santa to be a woman or gender neutral, so I guess this isn’t far from the truth. pic.twitter.com/7zRYk9bSlU
— JeepGirl99 (@joeblow745) 14 декабря 2018 г.
British media previously reported of a rift over whether a council in Durham should replace Father Christmas with Mrs Claus on a charity parade. Independent councillor Arun Chandran in Newton Aycliffe stated at the time that Santa Claus “is a male role. Children will be expecting a male Santa. ”
In a parallel move in Scotland, a traditional Christmas treat, gingerbread men, have been banned from Scottish parliament due to them being “sexist”. For example, in a café in Holyrood, the landmark biscuits hit the shelves under the name “gingerbread persons”, prompting Annie Wells, equalities spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives who called it a "pointless gesture".
"Surely the Scottish Parliament has got better things to do than worry about what to call gingerbread men?” she said.
