Times are changing, the future is here. We might not have flying cars, but we can communicate with a person on the other side of the world instantly, to me, that is just as impressive.
Of course, there are both advantages and disadvantages in evolving as a society, and things like the fight for gender equality are controversial among people because they aim to shake the very foundations and guidelines we’ve had for hundreds of years. People dislike the idea of change, which is ironic because change it’s the basis of evolution.
Recently, we wrote about a proposal in the UK to change the name of Father Christmas, the most common name for Santa Claus back in the old kingdom, to “Person Christmas”. Controversial as it may seem – there are plenty of people who think that the popular Christmas figure should be something other than a man.
At least in this comprehensive study from 2018.
It is hard to relate to this change since Father Christmas and Santa Claus are not the same. In America, Santa Claus has his trusty Mrs. Claus behind him, leading to a more equal weight for genders in the characters responsible for Chrismas.
However, Great Britain’s more man-centered tale has stirred up plenty of emotion – with the argument that the Christmas face should be gender-neutral.
28% want to change the gender of Santa
In the eye of this gender-related storm, we find a design company called Graphic Springs, who conducted a study on how people would like to modernize Santa Claus.
They asked over 400 people based in both the UK and US for suggestions. Then over 4000 people across the UK and US voted on a selection of these suggestions, reports CBS Pittsburgh.
It turned out that “a modern look” would comprise tattoos, a well-trimmed beard, skinny jeans, and a slim Santa. The study also concluded that around 28% of the voters would prefer a non-male Santa.
However, 72% percent still wanted Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus or Father Christmas to be a man.
What do you think? Should Santa be male, female or gender-neutral? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments section, or share this article with your friends!
