Woke bank executive shames sons for perfectly normal response to woke bank ad
If anything, this story makes me look down on Citibank and the people that they hire.
The first time I watched the ad for Citi’s True Name initiative, in which transgender actor Asha Doucet grapples with what self-identified first name to use on his credit card, I was deeply moved. The commercial captures him contemplating different choices like “Robert,” and “James,” before finally settling on “Justin” in a powerful nod to the sheer importance of being seen.
How devalued, I thought, would I feel if I wasn’t recognized by my name? And that’s coming from a cisgender woman who doesn’t face nearly the same pervasive issues as the transgender community.
However, when I showed it to my 9-year-old twin boys, they had no reaction. Zero.
It was then that I realized that my boys’ reaction—or lack thereof—was a sign that my children hadn’t yet learned the biases, conscious or unconscious, that so often cloud our adult lives. They hadn’t been exposed to the challenges and hardships within the transgender community.
No, it’s a sign that that 9-year-old boys do no give a shit about some dude picking out what name to use on a credit card, which is about the most pedestrian and banal experiences a human being in the developed world can have.
This is the commercial in question.
That is some really shallow woke bullshit. Seriously. Do you have any idea how hard it is to change your name on a credit card? Not fucking at all is the answer.
So two boys being nonplussed at this drivel is perfectly natural.
I would put money on them really wanting to play with Legos and really resenting mom making them sit there and watch a commercial about some guy trying to figure out what name he likes.
Mom, on the other hand, is aghast at her 9-year-old sons’ lack of fawning praise and woke tears at the heartwarming shallowness of Citibank virtue signaling to the Left by pandering to a tiny fraction of the population.
Since the birth of our sons, my entrepreneur husband and I have made a point to show that both parents have careers that are important to us. We both have demanding jobs that require early (and late!) meetings and, because of this, both parents share an equal responsibility for managing our home and family.
We do our best to cover for each other and step in to help with the kids when the other is stretched thin and we’re lucky to have a caregiver who does much of the heavy lifting when we’re both consumed with work. It’s not a perfect science, but embedding gender equality as a constant in our home, my sons have grown up with less exposure to antiquated gender roles.
Two corporate executives having a nanny raise the kids. Then mom occasionally shows up to sound like corporate HR.
I believe in the importance of showing my children the diverse array of family structures and as such, we’ve purposefully surrounded ourselves with families that look different than our own. From gay parents to biracial parents to single parents, my children have far more exposure to the non-nuclear family than I did growing up and, for them, this is the norm.
Hot damn is mom a racist. Does mom allow the family to have any friends that they actually like because of common interests or shared values, or are all of their friends selected based upon a diversity quota? Also, the erosion of the nuclear family is largely the reason America is in the shit condition that it is. Sorry, but it’s true. The fact that the non-nuclear family is the norm is a bad thing.
In my role at Citi, I’ve had the opportunity to help lead our efforts to drive diversity and inclusion. First, through championing the launch of our True Name initiative for transgender and non-binary clients, and also by driving more inclusive hiring processes and onboarding as we strive to meet our representation goals while fostering an environment rich with diversity of thought, experience and opinions.
At work and at home, I want to surround myself with that same diversity of thought.
That last part is bullshit. I guarantee it. Does anyone really think that this woman would tolerate someone at Citibank saying “hey, can we not pander to the radical trans-activist Left and instead not fuck with gun retailers by having policies more restrictive than state laws?”
I also strive to foster a culture of candor and inclusiveness at work by asking open-ended questions and soliciting different perspectives in everyday conversations to encourage diverse viewpoints. It’s important that whenever possible, we’re amplifying these conversations on a broader scale through town halls and panel discussions. For example, I recently participated in a candid conversation in front of thousands of colleagues on how I’m incorporating this year’s International Women’s Day theme #ChooseTo Challenge in my everyday life. In order to make significant progress, it’s discussions like these that are necessary to turn talk into action.
How candid was her conversation, really?
Did anyone stand up and say “maybe customers really don’t want their fucking credit card to mau-mau them over gender issues when all they want is a low APR and good rewards.”
I doubt it.
I feel very bad for this woman’s sons. They represent the majority of us who are bored and annoyed with corporate America shoving this woke bullshit in our faces, then doubling down when we tell them we don’t want to hear that shit.
