An outraged mother and her child are calling witness to the offensive language that a for-hire car company uses for the modern fleet. Although the “sexist slur” slogan has been in use for seventy-five years, Nicole Van Dijken and her 7-year-old son were momentarily stumped when they saw a car with the phrase “no birds” written across the side of the door.
When the Australian mom had to figure out what the “no birds” on the door of the car meant and then try to explain it to her young son, she felt that the car service business had gone too far. The car company was called Bayswater Car Rental. They were founded in 1958 in Perth, Australia, and continued to abide by the old ways of the world, which have since been updated to be more inclusive of all people with different backgrounds.
The company did not use to hire women drivers to drive around their customers. Hence, the no birds sign on the side of the cab. These women were called “birds” or delivery girls. Instead, Bayswater had customers pick up their own car, so a bird was not the one behind the wheel but the customer themselves.
When Van Dijken’s son continued to pester her for an answer about the “no birds” slogan on the side of the cab, she did not know how to answer her little boy “because this is something that I really do get furious about every time I see it.,” she told ABC Radio Perth’s J o Trilling.
She added, “It’s a sexist slur, and I’m now in a position where I need to explain that to my son. Which I did do.”
According to this one mother, the “no birds” slogan belongs in the “shameful past” of the 1950s and 1960s.
“It’s not appropriate to be referring to a woman as a bird, and I don’t know why it’s still on there. I think it’s terrible that they’ve still got it there.”
The company does not want to change its slogan. Instead, they direct customers who want to learn more about the “no birds” slogan to their website, which states, “These days having hire cars delivered may seem excessive. But when Bayswater Car Rental started, having “delivery girls” was a standard extra service in Australia.”
One man made it clear that he did not want to see the derogatory term on the cabs any longer.
“Back in the day, we called a girl a bird in a warm, friendly way … unfortunately I guess it’s not appropriate in this crazy PC world.”
However, a female said, “There was a very vocal opposition voiced against this when I was younger, and feminist activism was finding its voice — even my mother wrote a letter to The West (newspaper) to object to it. I can’t believe they are still getting away with using this slogan.”