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Commenters were quick to show support for one college student who detailed their objectionable Super Bowl party experience in a popular internet forum.
In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/thisis3mbarassing said their family was invited to a Super Bowl party earlier this month, and explained how festivities quickly turned into work for all of the women in attendance. Titled, "AITA for making jokes when my family was invited to a 'party' where the women did all of the work when the men did f**k all?," the viral post has received 10.1K votes and nearly 1,000 comments.
"I'm a college student visiting my parents for a few weeks," u/thisis3mbarassing began. "They were invited to a neighborhood get together, a Super Bowl party, and invited me along."
"It was such a weird vibe, unlike any party or hangout I'd been to," they continued. "At this party, all the women were cooking and cleaning and watching all the kids when the dads were watching football...even the little girls were doing chores while the little boys were playing."
To ease what they described as an "awkward" environment, the Redditor said they made a few jokes at the expense of male partygoers, but were reprimanded when the children at the party began repeating them.
"I started making a couple little jokes to laugh off the awkwardness," they wrote. "First, when we were in the kitchen I joked about swapping the beers we were bringing the guys with coffees so they'd get off their lazy a**es."
"When my mom caught onto the kids joking about that, she chewed me out for having said it in front of the kids...and causing drama when the kids were repeating the joke," they added. "She said they were of a different generation and I asked if they'd all been asleep for the last 70 years."
From 2013 to 2020, more than 40 percent of Americans reported throwing, or attending a Super Bowl party each year, per Statista. In 2021, that number dropped to 25 percent.
Following 11 months of COVID-related restrictions and heightened concerns about the coronavirus, many Americans chose to watch the National Football League's biggest game from home last year. This year, data collected by Statista revealed that attendance at Super Bowl parties jumped 10 percent, with 35 percent of Americans reporting throwing, or attending gatherings to watch the big game. (For viewers ages 18-44, around 50 percent planned to watch the game at a Super Bowl party.)
Despite a near-return to pre-pandemic numbers, and the highest television ratings for any NFL Game since 2017's Super Bowl LI, increased party attendance for Super Bowl LVI did not translate to increased happiness for all viewers.
u/thisis3mbarassing, who compared their Super Bowl experience to unpaid babysitting, said that their jokes were not received well, and that they ultimately decided to leave the gathering early.
"My mom ended up driving me home early and she's mad at me for making those jokes," they wrote. "I'm mad at her for inviting me to a 'party' that wasn't a party at all, just a day of chores but calling it a fun party."
Responding to the viral Reddit post, commenters sided with the original poster and expressed their dismay with the expectation for women to cook and clean, while men sat and watched football.
Redditor u/wdjm, whose comment has received more than 3,700 votes, assured u/thisis3mbarassing that they should not have been expected to work at a Super Bowl party, and explained what they would have done in the same situation.
"You were a guest, not hired help," they wrote. "I think I would have helped some...but then gone in to sit on my butt with the guys."
"If they have a problem with it, then let them verbalize their misogyny," they added.
Echoing that sentiment, Redditor u/melmoonhag said the original poster should have sat down and watched the Super Bowl, despite opposite expectations.
"Honestly, if you are ever in that situation again, sit down with the men," they commented. "My mom had this sort of behavior for a little and I suddenly enjoyed football. I was like 'until [my brother] gets up and helps, I am sitting my happy a** down."
In the Reddit post's top comment, which has received more than 14,500 votes, Redditor u/DonnerKatze89 was appalled by the conditions described in the viral post.
"If older women want to play house that's on them," they commented. "But making the young girls do it, too? That's f****d up."
About the writer
Taylor McCloud is a Newsweek staff writer based in California. His focus is reporting on trending and viral topics. Taylor ... Read more