Monday, May 24, 2010

Where are the Women in Kids Shows?

Wow, I just noticed that I haven't blogged in a month! So sorry...crazy busy life right now, but I'm back on it! So on to my post.

Now that my son is starting to pay much more attention to TV and videos, I've noticed something that actually baffles me - men are predominantly found as the lead characters in children's shows. Curious George has the man with yellow pants, The Wiggles are all male, Barney is a boy, Elmo interacts with Mr. Noodle, Mr. Rogers was a staple of my childhood, and Blues Clues have male leads as well.

This doesn't bother me at all...it just makes me wonder, where are all the women? Is it mostly men who come up with kid show concepts, or are there studies that show kids responding better to men in authority? When my son was first born, I read something about how babies just like women better at first because they're used to hearing their mom's voice in the womb. That's why we inherantly raise our voices to a "girlier" tone when talking to babies (we all do it without knowing...but that's why).

Again, I don't see anything wrong with this, especially since I have a son, but c'mon ladies...let's come up with some shows that cast BOTH men and women as the leads so that our kids recognize both as authority figures...in their play world AND the real world. :)

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