Woman left rattled after being chastised for using term 'Father Christmas' instead of gender neutral 'Santa Claus'
A mother has said she was left rattled after she was chastised online for using the term "Father Christmas" instead of "Santa Claus" as the former is not a gender-neutral term.
The unnamed woman from Plymouth said that she was rebuked online by a number of users after she referred to the iconic Christmas figure as "Father Christmas" while discussing a book. She apologized for using the term.
"I’ve just been shamed for using the name ‘Father Christmas’ and [told] that 'Santa' is now seen as gender-neutral. I was only referring to the book [‘Father Christmas’ by Raymond Briggs] but it’s left me a little confused/on edge about what we are allowed to say. I have a small child and don’t really want to raise him saying 'Father Christmas' if it’s hurtful to some," she said, Metro reported.
However, not all of the comments the woman received were negative. Reacting to the Plymouth mother's comment, one woman wrote online: "Santa is so American, Father Christmas here and will always be Father Christmas. It’s always a man."
As it turns out, the woman might not be wrong. A survey was done last year, in which only a handful of people (15 percent) said they felt Father Christmas should become gender-neutral. The campaign did not get any backing from LGBT groups or charities.
Originally the concept of Father Christmas or Santa Claus is based on St Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop who lived in Turkey and was a very wealthy man who helped the poor by giving secret gifts to people. However, the concept is not universal and varies from one country to the other.
For example, France and Italy use figures of Pere Noel and Babbo Natale respectively instead of Santa and both follow the British masculine model. Same with Germany and Poland (Weihnachtsmann and Mikulas and Mikolaj), while in Russia they use Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz).