I have copied here my friend, V's, recent rant from August regarding gender stereotyping and the character Abby Caddabby from Sesame Street with her permission. Thoughtful and well written. See the link to the article in question.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/15328672.htm
"For all my hang-ups about gender stereotypes (to recap, my personal axis of evil = Britney Spears, Miss America, but I really have to replace "Barbie" with Paris Hilton - at least Barbie seemed to have gender-breaking jobs that required an education, and you've got to admire a woman with impeccable lipstick in outerspace), it seems to me that society is refusing to let little girls have feminine role models anymore. There is nothing wrong with being a girly-girl, or embracing parts of that personality type. But for society to say that it is a "bad" stereotype is going to confuse and alienate a lot of little girls. I would have characterized myself as a girly-girl when I was a little girl - because I envied my big sisters' "glamour" (they were 14 and 16 when I was 8 - Glamour is relative!) - but in hindsight, I was most definitely dominantly a tomboy (tree-climber, bug-collector, household "chemist," farmer, and doohickey taker-aparter) and intellectual (reader and puzzle-solver) who savoured the girly moments (my first pair of high heels, the first time I got to wear lip gloss to church, getting my ears pierced, my sister buying me my first little make-up kit and bra for my 13th birthday). This non-"issue" makes me mad enough that I want to figure out to whom I should write a letter. And no - I don't think the Herald is the right forum. I'm thinking the Sesame Street workshop or something. This might even make me start a blog, just so I can voice an opinion and pretend it might be heard.
PS: I LOVE the comment that if Cookie Monster was a girl, the "watchdog critics" would be accusing him of being bulimic."
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