Woman under fire for suggesting Father's Day is renamed 'Special Person's Day'

An Australian activist has sparked criticism for suggesting Father’s Day is renamed ‘Special Person’s Day’ instead.

Dr Red Ruby Scarlet, who has a doctorate in early childhood studies, argues that doing so would help children without fathers feel included during the annual event.

Appearing on Today Tonight, the academic didn’t say whether she thinks Mother’s Day should also be changed, saying that the move would benefit families that have a less-traditional structure.

“There are children who have a dad, who also have a grandfather and also have an auntie and also have other kinds of relatives,” she said.

“There are also a huge range of different family structures, so we have single parent families, satellite families, extended families, lesbian and gay families.”

Her opinions have resulted in a backlash on social media, with men and women branding the idea “sexist” and “offensive”.

“World is gone mad,” one person tweeted. “Really!”

“Fair enough,” wrote another. “My daughter’s mother passed away shortly after birth. Can we change Mothers Day to ‘Special Person’s Day’ too?”

When asked why she believes social justice is important for young children, Dr Scarlet responded: “There’s a lot of Australian research that has actually informed a lot of international research.

“Teacher research for example, that has demonstrated children’s capacity to be really inclusive once they know about these ideas and they think, ‘Wow why are people seeing this as a controversy? Why are we calling this political correctness?’ when in fact it’s about our rights.”

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