Stop sneering at mothers. Most of us have done things you wouldn't believe | Emma Beddington

"That not your [family member]'s formula entered the vernacular in a 1988 US car ad, when it was directed at dads: Not your father's Oldsmobile. Now, though, it seems mostly to have defaulted to mothers. It's a lazy marketing brag or headline, a shorthand for new, directional and disruptive, and I've started to hate it. I'm not usually actively angered by reflexive sexism and ageism; I tend to let it wash over me in a dispiriting wave."

"And I don't, actually, feel personally slighted by the expression. I am, indeed, a mother who is also terminally cautious and aesthetically unadventurous. Whatever you're marketing (unless it's fire or the wheel) is likely to be more edgy and innovative than I'm comfortable with. But what about all the other mothers? If you're my age, your mother probably came of age in the 60s, experiencing Sgt Pepper-inspired psychedelia, the summer of love and Mary Quant micro-minis."

"I inherited two garments from my mum, a woman infinitely braver than me in every way. One was a bum-skimming babydoll nightie in a cacophonously bright floral bordered with black lace, the other a completely transparent crocheted Biba dress. Unlike her, I've never dared wear either in public. And that's just clothes. Your mothers have seen (and done) things you people wouldn't believe, so leave them out of this they shouldn't be a cheap punchline to sell shampoo."

The phrase 'not your [family member]' originated with a 1988 US car ad, 'Not your father's Oldsmobile,' and now commonly targets mothers. Marketers use it as a lazy shorthand to signal that a product is new, directional and disruptive. The phrase embeds reflexive sexism and ageism by implying mothers are conventional and unadventurous. Many mothers experienced 1960s psychedelia, Mary Quant mini-skirts, punk, glam rock, New Romanticism, acid house and grunge, so portraying them as uniformly staid is inaccurate. Personal examples of daring garments—such as a bright babydoll nightie and a transparent crocheted Biba dress—illustrate mothers' adventurousness. Mothers should not be a cheap punchline.

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