Anticipating Father’s Day this upcoming Sunday, we sat down to chat about the ways gender constructions are amplified during these ‘festive’ commercial events. Ever notice the colour pink and red all over the shops around May? Well, for September, we’re lead to believe that all fathers (therefore, men) only like dark colours; blue, black or grey.

Hm, interesting. And what about indications of what a father (and therefore, a man) is interested in reading? Helen looked at the top 24 book recommendations for dads advertised by bookstores and found that only three books were written by women. What? Men don’t read female authors? NO! Can that be?

And why were all the books on the ‘Dad’s wish list’ books about male sportsmen, entertainers, politicians, wine, science, technology? And why were all the novel recommendations spy, crime, thriller, forensic, military?

Fathers (and therefore, men) don’t like flowers? Who says?

Finally, Helen noticed the bias schools have committed by having Mother’s Day Morning Teas (held at 11am) and Father’s Day Breakfast (held at 8am) because what, only fathers (and therefore, men) have to race to work?

Hm. Very bias forms of discrimination, don’t you think?

Culture Consumption:

Movie: Death Becomes Her (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1992)
Trailer
That scene Jessie talks about where Goldie Hawn turns into a huge, huge person.

Hungry Ghosts (SBS, 2020)
Trailer

The Great Pretenders (Netflix)
Trailer

Articles:

From Vietnam To Taiwan, Why Asian Fathers Are Caring More For Their Children (Forbes, June 15, 2017)

The perception of Asian dads and masculinity (Chicago Tribune, June 10, 2016)

Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram

Asian Bitches Down Under Facebook

Asian Bitches Down Under Email: [email protected]