Fatherhood may or may not be a mystical estate, an apostolic succession founded upon a void. But activists are here to warn you that honoring the father glorifies rape, patriarchy, and child abuse.
Expressing outrage at the offensive and sexist holiday, Twitter anti-fatherists are making one simple demand: #EndFathersDay.
It’s true that Father’s Day, like fatherhood itself, proceeds from incertitude and unlikelihood. The holiday struggled through much of the 20th century, as even Woodrow Wilson, the busybody president who proclaimed an official Mother’s Day, stopped short of doing the same for American dads. Presidential recognition only came with the Nixon administration in 1972, and Americans ever since have been lukewarm about Father’s Day — consistently spending substantially less than we do on Mother’s Day, for example.
Still, families across the country are expected to come together to celebrate fathers and fatherhood Sunday, bothering exactly nobody in the process. So what is #EndFathersDay’s beef (or no-animal-products beef substitute) with this harmless holiday?
Many of the tweets at #EndFathersDay also included #YesAllWomen, the popular grassroots hashtag where women can share stories of harassment or misogyny they have experienced.
All agree that Father’s Day is not something to be celebrated. Most argue that the holiday clearly celebrates the culture of oppression of women by men, and we simply should not be observing it.
https://twitter.com/NayNayCantStop/statuses/477441550129958912
https://twitter.com/SharmekaMartin/statuses/477315070855090176
https://twitter.com/PhoebeKwon/statuses/477299243804151808
https://twitter.com/PhoebeKwon/statuses/477271324071833600
A holidaty that celebrates men has no place in a progressive society #EndFathersDay
— erin williams (@erin_williams11) June 13, 2014
Others observed that fathers (especially white fathers) are responsible for most or all child abuse and cases of discrimination.
https://twitter.com/Carly_Jacksn/statuses/477314485669998593
https://twitter.com/InclusiveSarah/statuses/477258641725071361
https://twitter.com/CisHate/statuses/477314710367256578
https://twitter.com/StrThry/statuses/477320347293736961
Some #EndFathersDay proponents kept it very simple, explaining that fathers are simply unnecessary in our society.
https://twitter.com/TashaPolwright/statuses/477390782270148608
https://twitter.com/TashaPolwright/statuses/477389913017438208
https://twitter.com/PhoebeKwon/statuses/477262894552195072
Users put forward a variety of other reasons why the holiday must be eradicated:
https://twitter.com/NayNayCantStop/statuses/477443940614803456
#FathersDay is so offensive to same-sex parents and single mothers! Stop the #Patriarchy and #BANFATHERSDAY – #YesAllWomen #Feminism
— Daniella Herzog (@DaniellaHerzog) June 10, 2014
https://twitter.com/CisHate/statuses/477315103881052161
https://twitter.com/CisHate/statuses/477315103881052161
NayNay Thompson summed it up with her tweet:
https://twitter.com/NayNayCantStop/statuses/477474776508686338
The movement to end Father’s Day is getting some support in the legacy media as well. In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Haig Chahinian calls for ditching the “gendered” holiday in favor of the little-celebrated Parent’s Day in late July. Parent’s Day was signed into President Bill Clinton, according to Chahinian.
– Molly Wharton is an intern at National Review.