I was recently sent an email from Alexa, a "Coyne Public Relations" employee working for Disney. The reason for the email was to inform me of two important developments concerning the Disney Parks Moms Panel, which is, according to the press release, "an online forum where guests can get tips and insights for a Disney vacation":1. "Walt Disney World Moms Panel" was now called "Disney Parks Moms Panel."
2. Two new dads had just joined the panel of moms. There were now five dads on the panel!
I had two follow up questions, so I emailed Alexa.
The first question, which I kept to myself, was, "Why should I care?"
It's pretty amazing how often I get emails that assume I'm so hungry for content, that I'd just happily cut & paste press releases. A panel of moms and dad-moms changed its name. So? And?
But I didn't ask her that question, because her job is not to engage me in meaningful conversation or to connect with me on any level. Her job is to spam me, in the hope that I spam my readers. At least that's what she thinks her job is.
I did email her back with one comment, though:
In a perfect world, a panel of Disney parents wouldn't change its name from "Walt Disney World Moms Panel" to "Disney Parks Moms Panel," but to "Disney Parks Parents Panel." It's great that you're becoming more inclusive, getting more dads into a panel that essentially aims to help moms and dads, but this stuff really bothers me. The word "moms" doesn't equal "parents," and "Dads" is not the same as "secondary caregivers."It's been a couple of months, and she hasn't bothered replying. Again, she doesn't think her job has anything to do with creating dialog. Disney writes, and bloggers cut & paste--that's the way she sees it.
So let's meet the two new members of the moms panel--Oh, but first:
First, what's with the "Moms"? If they're moms, call them Moms. If they're moms and dads, call them Parents. Calling them Moms and putting the word in quotation marks is your solution?
And now, the two new members of the moms panel!
Well, what can I say? Congratulations to Angelo, Chris, Marc, Doug, Derek, Miguel, and all the other moms out there, for the name change. Maybe one day, Disney will respect you enough to consider making another change? And dare I say, maybe one day you'll respect yourselves enough to demand that change?
