Santa banned from saying 'Ho, ho, ho'.

Political correctness has really gone mad, first kids are taught new nursery rhymes, changing bah bah black sheep to bah bah colour sheep to prevent any insult to people who would not have even considered being insulted until the good for nothing Government stepped in. Now even the fictional santa is being gagged to prevent women from being offended. I read the following article online and I really do wonder what is next...


By Janet Fife-Yeomans and Amanda Grant
November 15, 2007 12:00am
HE is an unlikely revolutionary but this Christmas, Santa is a rebel with a claus.
He is having the last laugh on political correctness - and it's a great big fat belly laugh.
Santas across Sydney are rebelling against attempts to ban their traditional greeting of "ho, ho, ho" in favour of "ha, ha, ha".
Recruitment firm Westaff - which supplies hundreds of Santas across the country - has told its trainees that the "ho ho ho" phrase could frighten children and could even be derogatory to women.
Two Santa hopefuls reportedly quit the course because of the hullabaloo of the ho, ho, ho.
One would-be Santa has told The Daily Telegraph he was taught not to use "ho, ho, ho" because it was too close to the American slang for prostitute. He also quit.
"Gimme a break," Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids, said.
"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they.
"Leave Santa alone."

Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive officer Dr Joe Tucci said it was the latest example of political correctness gone mad.
"There is no stronger tradition for children than Santa's ho, ho, ho," Dr Tucci said.
Yesterday department stores David Jones and Myers and the Westfield shopping centre chain moved to reassure children, and their parents, that Santa and his customary greeting was part of Christmas's present as well as Christmas's past.
A David Jones spokeswoman said they had discussed the situation with Westaff and their Santas would not be silenced.
"Senior management have assured us that Santas provided to David Jones have not been censored in any way," the spokeswoma said.
At Myer, where Westaff also train the fat men in red suit, Santa could not stop laughing about the suggestion.
"Myer has not directed our Santas to refrain from using 'ho, ho, ho' and believe the expression is an important Christmas tradition," a spokesman for Myer said.
Westfield's Santas are recruited and trained by RegProm Marketing and they will be "ho, ho, ho-ing" a Westfield spokeswoman said.
"Westfield Santas are known for their friendly and welcoming nature and know how to deliver a real festive 'ho, ho, ho'.
Sydney mother Maybel Lopez said she wanted her daughter Andria, 5, to grow up hearing Santa's "ho, ho, ho" just like she had and she did not realise it had other connotations.
"It's what Santa has been saying his whole life - my whole life. It is just a normal thing really for him to say 'ho, ho, ho'," Ms Lopez said.
Westaff's national Santa co-ordinator Sari Hegarty wrote to stores explaining the company's position.
"Westaff has been a provider of quality caring Santas for over forty years," Ms Hegarty wrote in an email.
"Part of our advice to our Santas is that they should be mindful of children having their first Santa experience.
"We ask our Santas to try techniques such as lowering their tone of voice and using 'ha, ha, ha' to encourage the children to come forward and meet Santa. We wish you and your family a very merry Christmas."
Westaff national operations manager Greg Jansz said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of Santa himself.
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Firstly, why on earth would kids be scared of hearting Santa say Ho, ho, ho? For years Santa has been known for this expression, how many people do you know that were scared of this when they were young? Exactly. In terms of language, it is definately semantically linked to Santa not prostitutes and by no means would kids think of any other connotations, it is merely Santa. Changing the expression to 'Ha, ha, ha' is just a joke. Why re-write history and change a tradition?

In terms of women, how many women would honestly say they were offended and wanted it to be changed? I'm sure the answer would amount to no-one, and if I'm wrong, how petty can you be? I'm all for the removal of derogatory language against women, and from studying Language and Gender at A-level, by no means does 'Ho, ho, ho' warrant an address. Of course adults will find sexual innuendo and connotations in the role of Santa, but I'm sure we could in alot of things. There are many more things associated with santa that connote sex etc, not that I want to go into detail, but I'm sure santa's sack or stockings wont be under any questionning in the near future. It is ludicrous to think women can be that pathetic yet nothing is questionned that may insult men. Like with race, the Government are going to far with PC and gender and consequently feeding their own problem by highlighting issues that are NOT issues making businesses question their own work, such as Westgate. They should start focussing on much greater issues and quit trying to solve problems that were not there in the first place.