The London Fire Brigade has taken to Twitter to accuse Peppa Pig of sexism for using the word ‘fireman’ instead of ‘firefighter’ in an episode of the popular children’s series.
‘Come on @peppapig, we’ve not been firemen for 30 years. You have a huge influence on kids & using out of date stereotypical gender specific wording prevents young girls from becoming firefighters,’ the tweet read. ‘Join our #Firefightingsexism campaign.’
But parents were quick to disagree, pointing out that it is the mums in the series who actually end up fighting the fire, after the dads accidentally set fire to a barbecue.
The episode, which is called The Fire Engine, originally aired ten years ago. ‘Aren’t all the firefighters in Peppa Pig women anyways?’ one Twitter user asked. ‘You have never watched the show properly,’ said another.
‘Fight fires, leave politics alone,’ another commentator implored.
‘Pssst don’t tell Postman Pat…’ another user joked. ‘Is it Postfighter Pat now? I can’t keep up,’ another replied.
‘I wanted to be a firefighter, but then I watched Peppa Pig and it changed my mind. Said no woman ever,’ another person commented. ‘Maybe your shift patterns are a bigger barrier to gender equality?’ another suggested.
But other parents said they could see where the Fire Brigade was coming from. ‘I just played this and my 9 year old little lady said “Fireman, isn’t that a bit sexist?!” (Verbatim),’ a retained firefighter commented. ‘Boom the message is getting through but @peppapig has dropped a clanger here!’
London Fire Brigade recently welcomed Barbie as an ambassador for their #FirefightingSexism campaign, saying: ‘She’s coming to the rescue, helping girls & boys to imagine everything they can become by joining the Brigade in our new gold kit too.’
‘I find the term fighter offensive as it clearly has aggressive undertones,’ one joker responded.
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