Gender Bias at Christmas: What if Santa Were a Woman?

For its Christmas film this year, agency Anomaly London decided to ask kids a provocative question: what if Santa were a woman? Their answers, revealed in this cute but eye-opening film directed by RSA's Greg Fay, uncovers a staggering amount of gender bias -- and proves that equality still has a long way to go.

The youngsters agree that they don't think Mrs. Claus up to the job, citing reasons like "she'd get lost in the sky" or "she wouldn't be strong enough to carry the presents." One even thinks she might "get a headache," and there's a lot of talk of how her baby would get in the way of deliveries.

Anomaly created the campaign to provoke debate, inviting parents to ask their own kids the same question (a bit like Walmart's holiday campaign To Give or To Get, but instead of revealing how unselfish your kids are, you reveal how conditioned by stereotypes they are.)

Stuart Smith, Anomaly partner and chief strategy officer, said in a statement: "We tested the idea by asking my kids, and their answers were uncomfortably surprising. What started as a bit of elfish fun about one issue, surfaced another...who and what are shaping our children's gender perceptions?"