Why a mum-of-two told her kids that the Easter bunny was female

The Easter Bunny delivers goodies to millions of kids in one night without a sleigh or reindeer. With this strength, determination and endurance she must be female.

Ariana Grande (yes, I clearly have a pop loving tween) sung ‘God is a Woman’ and I told my two daughters that Easter Bunny (aka E.B) is one too.

You might want to know why, and who cares?

Well to the first question, they asked (and to the second, probably no one but my kids).

Yes, last year both girls each wrote (a very detailed) letter to E.B. They included the general Easter requests and polite chitchat but then they got into the serious information, asking details — everything from E.B’s name, hobbies and gender.

Why did they ask specifically about gender? I have no idea but they did and so as E.B’s officially appointed letter writer, I replied with the truth.

Because how could she not be a, she?

I mean let’s be honest E.B is hopping all around the world to leave Easter goodies for millions of kids in one night.

There ain’t no sleigh, or reindeer, no sliding down chimneys with a plate of cookies waiting for her to re-energise and fuel up for the rest of the journey.

All E.B gets is a basket (which let’s be honest must be pretty big and heavy in order to carry all of those goods) and carrots to munch on.

So, with this strength, determination, endurance and veggies — E.B has to be a female.

How can the Easter Bunny not be female? Picture: Kidspot

Move over, Santa

The other reason I told them that E.B is a woman is out of fairness because out of all of our magical friends – Santa, the Tooth Fairy and E.B – the hands-down favourite is Mr Claus (a man).

I mean he brings actual presents and usually lots of them. He is hugely famous, there are songs about him, movies, decorations with his face adorned on them, you can visit him in the shops, you are expected to write letters to him and pretty much the entire month of December is devoted to this guy.

But really, in most households, I’d say that a lot of the prep work for Santa, his ‘little helpers’ are the mums of the house whose ‘magical’ work is never truly honoured or appreciated because it is a secret.

And then there is the Tooth Fairy, and that poor lady is really thrown under the bus. Firstly, she gets to collect the odd tooth and gifts a gold coin several times in a child’s entire life (and her visit can also be forgotten from time to time). So, while a woman, she isn’t up there in terms of favourites, nor is she seen as the most reliable.

So, I say E.B can try and even this inequality out and bring some more cred to the magic game. Hence, E.B is a woman.

Now, the big gun, the absolute reason E.B is a woman...

Shona says the proof is in the Easter egg hunt. Picture: Shona Hedley

The Easter egg hunt

In my house, we do this every year, and it is pretty elaborate – from bunny footprints, clues (that rhyme I may add), hidden eggs in various outdoor and indoor locations which change every year (thank you) to the actual execution of these items usually in the pitch black of night in my PJs with a torch.

No, not every house is as silly as mine in this respect, but some are and some may be worse. My point is though that any Easter creativity involves precision planning – from the correct (and equal) number of eggs per child to working out suitable places for these events to take place that don’t involve the wildlife consuming them prior to sunrise (I learnt this the hard way) and not getting caught in the act.

So, with this, E.B is a woman.

In fairness, we know that Santa also does very clever and well-planned deliveries too (with help cough cough) and he is a man, so no I am not having a dig at every dad out there (truly) because many of you are great magic helpers too. However, as a feminist I guess I think it’s time to even the field.

And finally, if we actually go to the history books (or the web) one theory suggests that the symbol of the Easter Bunny stems from the ancient pagan tradition to celebrate the festival of Eostre (Easter). Eostre is thought to honour the goddess of fertility (a woman).

Plus, it is the female rabbits who look after their offspring and well that is what Easter Bunny is all about, right?!

And this is why E.B is a woman.

This story originally appeared in Kidspot and has been reproduced with permission.