May the Force be with you - just not on Mother's Day

"Mums are being ripped off. Where's my nightie with Hot Harrison Ford's face on it?"

May 4th every year is a very important day; almost as important as Christmas.

It's Star Wars Day - because it's May 4th (fourth) - which fans associate with "May the Force... be with you."

It's about sending vibes of good fortune and courage; it's auspicious.

However, as an old-skool fan, who has indoctrinated her son accordingly, I find one major point about the day disappointing. 

Star Wars Day is a mere week away from Mother's Day, and yet no one's figured out that women like Star Wars, too. Where is the Mum's Day Star Wars merch? Yet, for Father's Day every year, there's a whole heap that's promoted for the cool dad.

It's not fair. I want SW merch on Mother's Day, dammit. I want a nightie with Hot Harrison Ford's face on it.

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It's a goddamn double standard

How has no marketing genius married the two super proximate dates?

Maybe Darth Vader wants it that way... because he is (spoiler alert) a dad.

Or, is it more likely that this is just one more frontier women need to face? 

Of course, this is not the most pressing issue facing us right now. But I feel it warrants thinking about in this context: we've come very far as a society to think neutrally about a lot of things when it comes to raising our kids. Everything from what they play with to what they wear had become much less gendered - and accepted as such.

So why are mums still being marketed floral dressing gowns and vomity-vanilla candles? A bottle of bubbles - but never, ever, a bottle of Bundaberg rum? (Most mums - like me - could easily do both.)

It's a double standard that reflects a subconscious attitude in our culture.

Where's the Mother's Day Star Wars merch?? Image: Nama Winston

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I want to sip from Darth Vader's face, too

I used to have a coffee mug with Darth Vader's face on it. I have a thing for him. It's the height... the voice... the badassery mixed with his undetectable vulnerability...but I digress.

I bought one for myself. I bought it during a Father's Day promotion at a supermarket in September, and gifted it to myself at Christmas.

And then, because it was my favourite mug, I stupidly took it to work and someone stole it. 

But if there was gender equality in Star Wars merch - even Mother's vs Father's Days - this tale of woe would never have come to pass. Again, I'm being a bit tongue in cheek, but I feel as strongly about this as I do LEGO's move to get girls into the bricks by making pink sets years ago.

Note to LEGO marketing department: we are already playing with it, we didn't need it to be 'girlie'.

Me at my wedding (I wish). Image: Nama Winston

"Luke, I am your... mother"

Look, I still want a comfy, warm, robe next weekend - but one with cute little Baby Yodas printed all over it. The fluffiest Chewbacca slippers. But I also want some sustainable Light Sabre straws. A mug with the iconic image of Skywalker battling Vader. And a Storm Trooper mask LEGO set.

And I want it in my local supermarket, not Amazon, to make it easy for my son to buy for me. Promoted as "The Force wants you to buy this for your mum."

But it hasn't occurred to anyone to do that yet. So I guess that won't even happen 'in a galaxy, far, far away'.

Originally published as May the Force be with you - just not on Mother's Day