The Superior Woman Strikes Again

By now you've seen the viral video of a father being interrupted in the middle of his live spot on BBC news when his children come bouncing into the room, followed closely by their mother skating in on her socks to save the day.  It was adorable, hilarious, and incredibly relatable to anyone who has ever dealt with children on a regular basis.

Of course it also set off the internet judging panel, who immediately began their chorus of boos and hisses for everything from how the professor gently pushed his daughter back to the way his wife grabbed her children "too harshly" and hauled them out of the room.  People also developed a magical, osmotic ability to instantly understand the dynamics of their relationship and analyze the woman's "obvious" fear, which is kind of funny considering half of these omniscients thought she was the nanny.

But I thought we'd been able to move past the criticism.  Until this.

In the parody video, which was produced for a New Zealand comedy show, we see how a woman would have handled this situation.  I'll give you a hint - without missing a beat she helps the child, continues the interview, and then multitasks her way through a series of increasingly ridiculous chores without so much as a single missed word.  Then, in case we have forgotten how truly superior women are, we see her buffoon of a husband interrupt the interview with a question about a lost sock.  Because men are just that dumb.

Ladies, this isn't funny.  It's offensive!

I can tell you how this situation would have gone down if it were me who was live on the air, and it certainly wouldn't have involved calmly setting the child on my lap and continuing the interview as if nothing were amiss.  I would have behaved EXACTLY as Professor Kelly did, only I would have forgotten everything I know about everything and would have been so rattled I would have accidentally clonked the kid in the face and then said a bad word on international television.

Watching a situation unfold on your iphone is entirely different than being in that situation.  If you think you would have handled it seamlessly and not experienced any panic you are lying to yourself.  This man's job and reputation were on the line.  He wasn't just skyping with his mother.  When you are participating in a LIVE international broadcast, you don't say, "Excuse me darling, Daddy's in the middle of something.  Go find your mommy."  You don't set her on your lap and give her the opportunity to smack the keys on the keyboard and disable your webcam or launch into a yelled rendition of the ABC song.  You give her a little nudge and hope like heck that she will get out of the room before she ruins your career.

So forgive me if I can't see the funny in a woman basting a turkey while she's supposed to be live on the air.

It's just that turkeys dripping in female superiority aren't all that appetizing.