Just ahead of Father’s Day this weekend, young Americans have voiced their disagreement with replacing the holiday with a more gender inclusive one.
Campus Reform reporter William Biagini spoke to locals in Tysons Corner, Virginia about changing the title of the important holiday in accordance with a new language guide at a Massachusetts college that seeks to do away with "father" and "mother" as terms and replace them with the generic label of "parent."
Biagini asked bystanders in the Northern Virginia town whether they would be okay with the holiday name change and everyone he spoke to on the video said no.
Biagini’s questions about the hypothetical holiday name change took inspiration from a new inclusive language guide published on Springfield College in Massachusetts' website. The guide explained pronouns, how to use them in more inclusive ways and offered alternate "gender-inclusive nouns" to be used instead of "gendered nouns."
For example, rather than use "mother" and "father," the guide proposed using "parent" in order to respect parents identifying with non-traditional gender roles.
Biagini began by asking the Virginia residents how they felt about of school’s language guide itself. All featured in Campus Reform’s video seemed confused by the initiative or didn’t see the point.
One responded, "Nah, it’s crazy. It’s been like that since day one, so why [are] they gonna change it now?" Laughing, the respondent’s friend answered, "I agree. I agree."
Another expressed she didn’t see the need to have a gender-neutral title for parents, even if they are LGBTQ. She said, "Like, if you have two dads, you call them both ‘Dad.’ Or if you have two moms you call them both ‘Mom.’ I don’t think it should be banned."
When asked about using "parent" only, a female respondent claimed, "I don’t agree."
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Biagini then asked respondents about whether "Father’s Day" should be banned or at least renamed "Parent’s Day." The same rejection followed.
One replied, "No, cause we need to celebrate the fathers too because without females and males how are we to populate? We need fathers. We need mothers as well. So you can’t really celebrate Mother’s Day and not give the fathers their handclap."
Another said, "I wouldn’t do that because I feel like Dads, they work the hardest for the family." She added, "Of course they should have their own day."
The reporter also asked if an end to Father’s Day might "downplay" the role of the father in the home. A male respondent claimed he didn’t think so, stating, "They’d still be a father, and they’d still do everything they do."
All the respondents featured in the clip told Campus Reform they would still celebrate Father’s Day despite the existence of the inclusive language guide and others like it.
