I’ve lost some dear friends,
Throughout my child hood, I grew up with Mrs. Butterworth’s, who is, or was white, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, The Brawny man, Mr. Clean, the Cream of Wheat chef and many other brand faces are now marked as offensive sterotypes. Growing up and in my early 20’s as I learned about product choices, my beloved Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and my favorite morning chef The Cream of Wheat guy were the people and brands I trusted. Now it seems they are all being written out of history. How very progressive (regressive) that is.
Why? None of these figures ever caused me to feel whites had superiority over blacks, quite the opposite. I felt I could trust Aunt Jemimah, Uncle Ben and the Cream of Wheat guy more because they were educated, skilled, had perfected a craft and were the bar that we as society must live up to in our own kitchens. I don’t make pancakes from scratch because mine can’t hold a candle to Aunt Jemimah. Malt-0-Meal is ok, but isn’t nearly as good as Cream of Wheat, rice mixes are ok, but Zatarain’s or Uncle Ben’s is who I trust. I love and cherish those faces. Race plays no part in it for me. They are the kitchen wizards who raised me.
The Brawny guy and Mr. Clean are also names I trust. I want the men on the packages! I want my son to know cleaning is indeed manly, as is cooking.
Feminists and people trying to push racial inequality have destroyed the beauty of these people, undermined their incredible stories and are taking away what they mean to so many. As a small girl I was very excited to see men depicting themselves doing typically “female” jobs. Men could clean! The Brawny guy said so and so did Mr. Clean, that told my child brain that it was 100% fine for men to do some cleaning. Seeing Uncle Ben and the Cream of Wheat guy gave my son the cue that cooking is manly. Redman chewing tobacco pays homage to the fact that Native American’s introduced the colonists to tobacco. I don’t see it as degrading, just the way It was.
Brands I respected because of the very positive way they portrayed black Americans, native Americans and men are now undermining my trust. Are they saying that those people didn’t accomplish enough in their lifetime to warrant being a brand representative? I find that highly offensive.
Are men too good to clean, is that really woman’s work as it’s now being portrayed? That’s very offensive to me and not the way we do things in my home. Are black people not worthy, skillful or accomplished enough to be a brand icon? How racist is that? Mrs Butterworth’s was a white woman from all I knew. How did she get mixed up in this? Is syrup not white but rice, pancakes and cream of wheat white all are? What about all of the other brand representatives who are people of color? Are they somehow lacking in skills and respect to be considered the ultimate authority in their products? What of Famous Amos? Is Chef Boyardee (Boiardi) now going by the wayside?
This is all just such utter bull! None of this is racist, nor is it meant to be. I was raised in the rural South. All of our most respected and loved lunch ladies were black. Their food was impeccable. Were they capable of being more than cooks in a public school? Absolutely! They were very intelligent, very kind women. They worked those jobs because they were out of school when their kids were, they could keep an eye on their kids and watch out for rapscallions. Not one person went hungry with that cafeteria staff. I worked a community event with the ladies and the supervisor, who was white ( she saw herself no different from her coworkers) I learned the best and fastest way to separate eggs, how to break them so you didn’t ruin your batch of eggs, how to smile when your feet are killing you, how to smile in the face of lunacy, and many other skills.
I’m outraged that the left who assumes insults for people who aren’t even insulted are the people calling the shots.
Throughout my child hood, I grew up with Mrs. Butterworth’s, who is, or was white, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, The Brawny man, Mr. Clean, the Cream of Wheat chef and many other brand faces are now marked as offensive sterotypes. Growing up and in my early 20’s as I learned about product choices, my beloved Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and my favorite morning chef The Cream of Wheat guy were the people and brands I trusted. Now it seems they are all being written out of history. How very progressive (regressive) that is.
Why? None of these figures ever caused me to feel whites had superiority over blacks, quite the opposite. I felt I could trust Aunt Jemimah, Uncle Ben and the Cream of Wheat guy more because they were educated, skilled, had perfected a craft and were the bar that we as society must live up to in our own kitchens. I don’t make pancakes from scratch because mine can’t hold a candle to Aunt Jemimah. Malt-0-Meal is ok, but isn’t nearly as good as Cream of Wheat, rice mixes are ok, but Zatarain’s or Uncle Ben’s is who I trust. I love and cherish those faces. Race plays no part in it for me. They are the kitchen wizards who raised me.
The Brawny guy and Mr. Clean are also names I trust. I want the men on the packages! I want my son to know cleaning is indeed manly, as is cooking.
Feminists and people trying to push racial inequality have destroyed the beauty of these people, undermined their incredible stories and are taking away what they mean to so many. As a small girl I was very excited to see men depicting themselves doing typically “female” jobs. Men could clean! The Brawny guy said so and so did Mr. Clean, that told my child brain that it was 100% fine for men to do some cleaning. Seeing Uncle Ben and the Cream of Wheat guy gave my son the cue that cooking is manly. Redman chewing tobacco pays homage to the fact that Native American’s introduced the colonists to tobacco. I don’t see it as degrading, just the way It was.
Brands I respected because of the very positive way they portrayed black Americans, native Americans and men are now undermining my trust. Are they saying that those people didn’t accomplish enough in their lifetime to warrant being a brand representative? I find that highly offensive.
Are men too good to clean, is that really woman’s work as it’s now being portrayed? That’s very offensive to me and not the way we do things in my home. Are black people not worthy, skillful or accomplished enough to be a brand icon? How racist is that? Mrs Butterworth’s was a white woman from all I knew. How did she get mixed up in this? Is syrup not white but rice, pancakes and cream of wheat white all are? What about all of the other brand representatives who are people of color? Are they somehow lacking in skills and respect to be considered the ultimate authority in their products? What of Famous Amos? Is Chef Boyardee (Boiardi) now going by the wayside?
This is all just such utter bull! None of this is racist, nor is it meant to be. I was raised in the rural South. All of our most respected and loved lunch ladies were black. Their food was impeccable. Were they capable of being more than cooks in a public school? Absolutely! They were very intelligent, very kind women. They worked those jobs because they were out of school when their kids were, they could keep an eye on their kids and watch out for rapscallions. Not one person went hungry with that cafeteria staff. I worked a community event with the ladies and the supervisor, who was white ( she saw herself no different from her coworkers) I learned the best and fastest way to separate eggs, how to break them so you didn’t ruin your batch of eggs, how to smile when your feet are killing you, how to smile in the face of lunacy, and many other skills.
I’m outraged that the left who assumes insults for people who aren’t even insulted are the people calling the shots.
Did we all know that Duncan Hines was a male travelling salesman, or is this new knowledge too? I’ve read about the story, behind the story for many of these people. They deserve this recognition.
I don’t know where our country is going, I can see where it’s been, I don’t like history, but I know enough to know that what you put out there in goodwill comes back to you. I also know I don’t want to be anywhere near these people when the lightening strikes. To whitewash and feminize all of our products does no one any favors. Let's just roll back the dial a few hundred years, when cleaning was women's work, black americans were give no voice or face on widespread products and no one aside from men could be featured on products.
What an utter disgrace!!
I hope this was coherent, I took my evening medication
early.