When you hear of Santa Claus, the image that comes to our minds is a fat old man with a white beard and wearing red clothes. But now people are arguing that whether Santa should become gender neutral or a female. A logo creation company, GraphicSprings, polled 400 people from the US and UK about potential ways to modernise Santa, using the top suggestions to poll a further 4,000 people on how they envision him, as reported in Mirror UK. And according to 6 ABC, 27 percent of those asked believe he should be rebranded as female or gender neutral. Christmas 2018: Who is Santa Claus? Surprising Facts About Father Christmas, Including His Connection With Coca-Cola.

Netizens were also of different opinion and didn’t understand why people were arguing over a made up character. One user on Twitter wrote: “I’m all for equality but the idea that we should make Santa gender neutral or female is ridiculous! You cannot change history – St Nicholas, the guy who started the whole stocking hanging thing was a man!” While another said: “Absolutely not, it’s a fat guy in a red suit with a red hat and white beard, carrying a massive sack full of toys and a guy who gets stuck up in chimneys. End of discussion!”

Even the politicians displayed their opinion. Arun Chandran, a Labour Party councillor for Newton Aycliffe in Country Durham, moved to ban female Santa Claus impersonators from taking part in an annual winter parade last month, after two women volunteered for the job. Even Piers Morgan lashed out saying on Good Morning Britain: “Father Christmas, as his name suggests is male. Father Christmas, for all of time, has been Father Christmas.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2018 06:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).