Someone's 'cooking,' but something's rotten

It's amazing how watching something so seemingly benign as the Academy Awards could lead to enlightenment.

But for the kid, it certainly did — well, at least a McDonald's ad.

I missed it, of course, because whenever an ad comes on, I'm gone — bathroom, e-mail check, quickie phone call. I hate watching the tube, but Trent likes it (movies, usually), so we spend some of our time together on the couch in front of the TV.

When I came back to the Oscars from whatever, he said, "Well, you just missed something sexist."

"I did? Did Ellen say something ... off?"

"No, it was a McDonald's ad. Kids all over the world were crazy-happy because dad was 'making dinner,' but all he was doing was bringing home McDonald's."

"Hmm, what do you think of that?"

"It's saying that dads can't cook like moms do,"

Touché for the kid.

When I checked it out on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsEBzCA6liU), it does seem kinda cute — on the surface.

But I get what Trent was saying — it's just another stereotypical way of presenting men and women, the message here being that dads can't or don't cook, and take the easy way out.

I was, of course, the kind of mom who gave Trent a wide range of toys to play with, wanting to raise a nonsexist child. But when he gravitated toward Tonka trucks, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Legos, I gave in. Other options were always there, but so were all the typical "boy" toys.

Now that he's a teen, however, we can talk about things like what is a man's/woman's role, and does it have to be like that? And although his dad isn't a great cook, he manages a pasta or shrimp dish every now and then. But Trent likes to cook, and he's always asking me if he can help prepare something. I love that he's interested in that, and I love that it's something we can share, too.

But an ad like McDonald's shows me once again how the media continues to spoon-fed the same stereotypical images of men and women. Sure, there have been some changes, but if you're a parent trying to raise consciousness in your kid, hoping to help them create a world that breaks free of the models our parents and grandparents were brought up with (and issues married men and woman right now are still arguing over), well, it ain't as easy as it should be.

There was a bit of blogging about the ad. Here's what one father writes on
http://daddytypes.com:

"(T)his commercial has been stuck in my craw since last night. So I'm happy to see that I'm not loosing (sic) my mind when I found it so offensive. Not only did it portray fathers as having the inability, lack of skill or unwillingness to take responsiblity (sic) for dinner, but that when we do our choice would (be) an unhealthy alternative like McDonalds."

I can hear some of you say, "Lighten up, Kat." Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm not on my feminist high horse, here. I just hate it when anyone gets dissed, and this ad, cute as it might appear to be, puts dads right back in the 1950s, and that can only mean women are being dragged along with them.

Too bad it's 2007.