Fathers Day
by Curve
June 15th. Fathers Day. A day marked as noteworthy in most calendars, but celebrated as a holiday in America alone.
For most of us outside America, Fathers Day is a fairly new concept, but one that's already been pushed heavily by those who stand to gain the most from it - the greeting cards companies and gift manufacturers.
There are many stories about the origins of this familial day of 'honour' - some date back to a time soon after the American Civil War and the need for a daughter to honour her dead Father. Others from the turn of the century and yet more modern claims lay the credit at the feet of a greeting card company who, noticing that the summer was a very slow period for sales, decided to create a new notable date to aim card sales at.
Whether the story of the American Greeting Card Company is true or not, one thing remains certain and that is that greeting card companies gain the most out of the day. Fathers Day is now the fourth highest seller of cards after Christmas, Valentines and Mothers Day. Last year, in the US alone, nearly 100 million Fathers Day cards were sold and, at an average retail price of $1.50, we can see just how profitable the day is for these companies.
Of course, the consumer isn't limited to cards alone anymore because the gift companies are out there pushing products aimed at men too. Whilst Mothers Day is a boon for the flower industry, Fathers Day must have golfing, whisky, clothes, automobile and sports manufacturers wetting their pants at the prospect of huge cash windfalls.
So, just what is the point of Fathers Day? Apparently it's a day to, quite literally, 'honour thy Father'. But hang on a minute; shouldn't we be 'honouring' our Fathers every day? Why do we need to have a special day singled out to show a parent how much we care? And why has the buying of gifts and cards come to be perceived as the only worthwhile way of showing love? Are we not capable of showing someone we love them without having it spelt out by Hallmark in a trite poem? The pressures on people to spend money on such a day are enormous, and the refusal to put hand in pocket and join in the consumer frenzy is often viewed as curmudgeonly and a show of disrespect.
Of course, cynical consumerism aside, there is another fundamental problem with such a day; it implicitly suggests that all Fathers are worthy of being honoured. For most people, conceiving a child is not exactly rocket science - in fact, it's not unknown for men to produce children with multiple women and not contribute to the welfare of any of them. In the US alone, 33% of all babies are born illegitimate - so where are those Fathers? What are they doing to assist in the raising of their children, and should they be honoured on this day created for their parental status? Now it could be seen that I'm heaping the blame on men here and, of course, I could say at this point that if women the world over had a more responsible attitude to contraception, then we would not be seeing these kinds of statistics. However, it's Fathers Day and not Mothers Day today, so I'm targetting the men!
In short - honour and respect is something earned, not demanded and expected simply because of parental, or any other status. In my view, Fathers Day is a fallacy - we don't need to be pressured to give 'honour' to anyone, and especially not pressured into spending money simply in order to conform and 'be seen to be doing the right thing'. If our Fathers have done a good job, if they've contributed to our welfare and our education or if they've taken an active interest in our development, then I dare say that we are all quite capable of giving them respect and honour on any day of the year.
So Dad, I'm terribly sorry, but, as with every other year, you won't be receiving a card or a gift from me today. Not because I don't care, but because I do and I don't need to show it on command like a performing poodle.
© Emma/Curve 2003
