I believe in respecting all women but this is just silly.
Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not
to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho"
greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was
reported Thursday.
Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to
say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment
firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could
frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US
slang term for prostitute.
"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the
campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free
2B Kids.
"We are talking about little kids who do not
understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation
and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.
"Leave Santa alone."
A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment
firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had
banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being
left up to the discretion of the individual Santa
himself.
