Johnny2Toes' Blog

I heard a story on the news recently that caused me great concern and consternation. There is a certain private school which provides an “Inclusive Language Guide” for it’s staff and parents of children attending this school.

There are many things in this guide which I find offensive, and to me personally is the bit about role and sex as it pertains to the family unit. A quote from this guide states: “it’s important to refrain from making assumptions about who kids live with, who cares for them, whether they sleep in the same place every night, whether they see their parents etc.” Below this statement is a chart showing conventional verbiage with respect to family and other relationships. Instead of mom/dad, its recommended to use grown-ups, folks, family or guardians. instead of saying husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend, its recommended to say spouse/partner/significant other. The chart I reference is a bit more detailed, and you can see the whole thing here.

So yes, cancel culture strikes again. Goodbye mom or dad, so long brother or sister. The Coneheads characters from Saturday Night Live, Beldar the male and Primat the female, were referred to as the Parental Units. Their daughter Connie was referred to as “our young cone”, or simply as “our young one”.

Go ahead and denigrate mothers and fathers around the world. God forbid we should use terms of love, respect and endearment. In fact, why not cancel Mothers Day and Fathers Day? Why should these “Folks” be honored in any way? What have they done to deserve such recognition? Here’s a thought, instead of celebrating our mothers and fathers, why not just combine them into one day? Lets call it Parental Units Day. Much more inclusive, don’t ya think? It wouldn’t really celebrate who and what mothers and father are, but rather it would recognize those who are the progenitors of our species.

Hey cancel culture, here’s a thought, why not cancel gender specific clothing. Perhaps Mao Zedong had it right. Chairman Mao saw the power of dress to present a shared national identity. Mao liked a shapeless four pocket worker’s jacket that quickly became the standard of dress for men and women throughout the years of the 50’s and 70’s. There you go, problem solved. No more gender specific clothing, we all just look alike.