The Social Democratic administration recently reached an agreement with its supporting parties on the state’s next media budget (DK). One controversial feature, which caused the right-wing parties to leave the negotiations on the plan, requires media organizations to submit a detailed record of the gender breakdown for many positions and roles. It’s being called a “gender return,” like a tax return.

Nonbinary cake-person. Photo: Lagkagehuset Henrik B.

The reporting will show not only how many employees and managers are male and female but will also do the same for news presenters, program hosts, journalists, pundits, opinion-makers, and interviewees. It will tabulate how much airtime each sex gets as well as the differences in wages. Minister of Culture Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen also noted that radio stations play many more male artists than female artists and that this affects their earnings and their festival gigs.

The sponsors of the measure insist that it doesn’t force media organizations to meet specific quotas; it is rather a means of learning whether there is sufficient diversity and inclusiveness or an overrepresentation of one sex. The agreement does oblige recipients of the Public Service funding pool to work “deliberately toward creating greater diversity and inclusiveness.”

What about other genders?

The right-wing parties objected to giving the Danish Broadcasting Corporation more money, increasing bureaucracy, and focusing on gender rather than competence, arguing that there are already laws on sex discrimination and equal pay. As Dennis Flydtkjær of the Danish People’s Party put it, forced “reporting on male, female, and other genders. That kind of woke doesn’t belong in a media agreement.” (The agreement actually neglected to address the employment of any genders “other” than male and female, so it was hardly woke enough for everyone’s taste.)

So long, Cake-man

But wokeness is encroaching on Danish taste buds more directly. Among the proud Danish baking traditions is a figure called Kagemand (Cake-man). It’s a cake or pastry in the shape of a body—head, arms, and legs—with frosting, marcipan and licorice. It’s most often served at children’s birthday parties. There’s also a female version, Kagekone (Cake-woman).

Last week, Lagkagehuset, the bakery chain whose name means “The Layercake-house,” announced a change. It will start selling a Kageperson—a nonbinary, inclusive version of the classic cake (DK). When customers call to order the item, they will now be asked to specify the hair length and whether the figure should wear pants or a dress.

A polarizing neutrality

“It is important for us that we reflect contemporary times and embrace the diversity in society,” said Malin Gardeström, brand-marketing manager for the bakery, “and also give opportunities to those who do not normally feel themselves reflected in binary gender presentation.”

The news elicited a variety of reactions (DK) on social media. Some were positive, praising the firm for making cake gender-neutral and improving society. Others expressed anger and indignation at a PR stunt to exploit a fad, wondered whether it was a delayed April Fool’s prank, and declared that they would no longer patronize the business.

Something to offend everyone

There was also a counterreaction to the negativity: It’s only cake—get a life! This included suspicions that it was mainly men, older men at that, who felt threatened by changing mores. Still others recalled that a couple of years ago Lagkagehuset was one of the foreign-owned firms accused of using tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of tax in Denmark and suggested that the company should use the money it saved to fight for transgender rights. (It was founded in Copenhagen but is now owned by a company domiciled in Jersey and ultimately by a private equity firm.)

Just as Flydtkjær’s misreading of the media agreement suggested that its gender accounting was actually insufficiently woke, the comic Anders Matthesen pointed out that Lagkagehuset’s “person” moniker discriminates against animals and the term “house” in the firm’s name shows insensitivity toward apartment-dwellers and the homeless.