Blended families in South Africa are not new, nor are they “unrealistic”; in fact, blended families are probably the most realistic representation of SA today!
Cape Town, South Africa – South Africa is the rainbow nation, so why is it so surprising when a blended family is featured on a provincial advert? For some, the Mentor’s, a real-life family from the Western Cape, were perceived as “condescendingly unrealistic”.
“The simple definition of a blended family, also called a stepfamily, reconstituted family, or a complex family, is a family unit where one or both parents have children from a previous relationship, but they have combined to form a new family. The parents may be in the same-sex or heterosexual relationship and may not have children with each other.”
Many saw the advert by ‘Safely Home by Western Cape Government’ and called the image out, even though the family featured, are an actual family. Terence and Julie are the parents of Liam and Eli, and together, they make one beautiful blended family.
Terence took to Twitter to point out the fact he was annoyed by being called unrealistic and Twitter rallied to show just how unrealistic it was to be a blended family in South Africa… and by that, we mean that there are many families who are just like the Mentor’s.
Take a look at the advert by the Safely Home by Western Cape Government. It was used to highlight the importance of having children buckled up in the back of the car.
“Having your child in your lap and not buckled up puts them at risk of death or serious injury. A good way to start is to make sure that everyone always wears their seatbelt on every trip. No matter what, #AlwaysBuckleUp!”
We spoke to Terence, who said he was thankful that so many families have come forward since his Tweet.
“We live in an incredibly diverse country, and our families are starting to reflect that diversity – I think it is wonderful that we were all able to show that a “family” can look like whatever you want it to.” – Terence Mentor
Terence has a fatherhood and family blog, AfroDaddy, which he uses to inspire other fathers. Many fathers follow him which is why so many felt they could come to his family’s defence.
Take a look at all the families that shared their “unrealistic” photos below.
Apparently my family is too “unrealistic”: pic.twitter.com/fUXNWhLCie
— AfroDaddy (@Terencementor) September 15, 2019
Your unrealistic family looks cool. My unrealistic family says hi. pic.twitter.com/mXbsAEkzrv
— James Porter (@drjamesporter) September 16, 2019
Well what do you know, suppose i’m also in the unrealistic corner. How many of us unrealistic families would it take to make it realistic? pic.twitter.com/QL1q5OVO3k
— Christoff Bell (@ChristoffBell) September 16, 2019
Here’s an “unrealistic” pic of two top lads I love spending time with. I guess some people just walk around with blindfolds on. pic.twitter.com/cQAA4zyh4a
— Alfred Thorpe (@vuurtoring) September 16, 2019
Aside from the blended families, people showered the Mentor’s with love saying they were a beautiful family.