20. Daddy Pig — that’s you. Occasionally you’ll be upgraded to Wise Old Elf but most of the time you’ll be Daddy Pig
Until you meet Bandit Heeler
Have you seen Peppa Pig?
Two years ago, when I wrote this list, I was going to write affectionately about how every dad eventually turns into Daddy Pig — the paunchy hubris that sometimes backfires. And, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy Peppa, and Daddy Pig is one of my favourite characters.
But then I watched Bluey.
Peppa Pig falls into the old trope of casting Daddy as a buffoon, especially against essentially sensible Mummy Pig, and Grandpa Pig is ever fallible against delightful, warm and wise Grandma Pig.
I’m also the first to admit that daddies can be a bit Daddy Pig from time to time.
But, underlying the whole daddy-as-a-buffoon thing is old-fashioned sexism. If we’re going to try to even up the childrearing burden in families by getting dads to shoulder more of their responsibilities, then popular culture has to stop portraying us as affable buffoons and start portraying us as capable. After all, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
I have the great privilege of knowing some great dads who take their child rearing responsibilities pretty seriously…
