I have done it. I have predicted the future. With the news about the Co-op’s gender neutral gingerbread biscuit appearing all over the web today, I would like to let people know that I saw this coming. Not seen the news today? Here’s a link to the story.

A few months ago I saw a gingerbread-girl in a Pret-A-Manger because a little girl had written in to ask if they could make one – so they did. They named her Annie and were sold as gingerbread biscuits alongside the male equivalent, Godfrey. This made me think of a poem about a gingerbread man wanting to change his sex. Here is what I wrote last year:

Gingerbread

There once was a little gingerbread man

Who desired to be a gingerbread girl

So he made the change with the baker’s help

And now his hair is in curls

But the public started to voice their concerns

As to the sex of the biscuits they’re fed

So now little ginger has no genitalia

And is referred to as plain-gender-bread

The Co-op say that:

‘Inclusion and diversity lie at the heart of Co-op’s values and we’re looking to create a character which can be used to celebrate different occasions through the year and will appeal to all our customers’

Inclusion and diversity – that irks me. Surely inclusion and diversity would be the approach that Pret made last year. The way I see it, making all of their gingerbread biscuits gender neutral isn’t inclusive at all; I’m sure more people would associate themselves as either a man or a woman instead of gender neutral. If they all look the same and have no discerning features, isn’t that the opposite of being diverse? It really takes the biscuit. They’ll be rebranding their Victoria Sponges as Victor next…