No big deal; it happens. (I vaguely remembered that character, but you confused me a bit when you called her "Debbie." Her name is actually Betty.)Urgh76 said:
Gay characters in children's cartoons
- Thread starter A Weary Exile
- Start date
I think what he meant by normal is actually statistically normal rather than a judgmental "normal" of one's opinion.Bara_no_Hime said:
Fact is there are homosexuality found all across the animal kingdom. But it is also another fact that these are not the majority instances found as well. Hence I would actually say that homosexuality is observed in animals rather than claiming it is "normal"
And also, I don't like the idea of LGBT using animals as example for why their actions should be accepted. Becuz if we wanna use animals as societal example, then we should all have polygamy. It's not that I'm against LGBT, but I personally believe using human rights as an argument is much more stronger than "hey some monkeys exhibit gay behaviors, means I'm alright too!"
Last time i checked, wild animals can be savage, some also commit rape and I don't see people accepting murderers and rapists.
In my opinion, children's shows should not address the complex psychological minefield that is fleshing out one's sexual identity. Since sexuality is a complete non-issue before puberty, why bother including the topic at all. Additionally, other than stating outright that a character belongs to one sexual group or another, just how does a writer portray the character in a manner identifying said character with the aforementioned without using stereotypes? I definitely agree that society needs to nut up and stop treating homosexuals as bogey-men, but exposing children to sexuality in any form seems irresponsible to me. I guess to condense my opinion, I think that children should have strong role models, and I think that part of being a role model means that you choosing the right moment to teach certain things to those that look up to you.
For anyone still wondering about biological effects on sexual orientation, this video helps spell things out pretty well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PooEhBxh0NY&feature=BFa&list=LLEoPJcexpHrY&index=12
and yes, both sides are exaggerated, but only to bring out the arguments.
OP: homosexual characters seem fine to me. Banning homosexuals in television because they are not near the majority makes as much sense as banning Jews, or Germans, or trombone players, or people who like curling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PooEhBxh0NY&feature=BFa&list=LLEoPJcexpHrY&index=12
and yes, both sides are exaggerated, but only to bring out the arguments.
OP: homosexual characters seem fine to me. Banning homosexuals in television because they are not near the majority makes as much sense as banning Jews, or Germans, or trombone players, or people who like curling.
Huh. I could have sworn I remembered Steve calling her a boy. I apologize for my mistake- I need time to process this new information.shedra said:http://www.nickjr.com/blues-clues/about-blues-clues/blues-clues-characters.htmlSuperMse said:Magenta's a boy. It's stated numerous times in the show. Not many people realize this, but it's true. I guess the creators wanted to subvert gender roles- nifty.shedra said:In Doctor Who, (Which is a show I could consider a family/kids show) there have been two homosexual characters that I know of. And it doesn't matter that they are. It hardly ever comes up. Only in passing conversation.
As far as exposing homosexuality to smaller children.
Well,
(both girls)
They don't form a lack of acceptance for alternative lifestyles until later.
Read Magenta's article.
Should it be done? -Yes
How to do it? -Add a gay couple. Don't make it to obvious. 2 friends (which are obviously same sex) which are mostly together and sometimes hold hands. Done.
Saying that sexuality shouldn't be part of children shows is hypocritical since heterosexuality is present simply by the fact that there are boys and girls and at least 1 girl will have a crush on a boy. Every show has it. So why shouldn't it have a boy having a crush on another boy, or girl/girl crush. I remember watching Hey Arnold. Helga had a crush on Arnold, jet he never found out. It was obvious that Helga is straight, jet sex was never mentioned. The only sexual content was linking someone. Not sex but liking.
It won't hurt anyone, but will help a lot of children to identify them self. It would at least helped me...
How to do it? -Add a gay couple. Don't make it to obvious. 2 friends (which are obviously same sex) which are mostly together and sometimes hold hands. Done.
Saying that sexuality shouldn't be part of children shows is hypocritical since heterosexuality is present simply by the fact that there are boys and girls and at least 1 girl will have a crush on a boy. Every show has it. So why shouldn't it have a boy having a crush on another boy, or girl/girl crush. I remember watching Hey Arnold. Helga had a crush on Arnold, jet he never found out. It was obvious that Helga is straight, jet sex was never mentioned. The only sexual content was linking someone. Not sex but liking.
It won't hurt anyone, but will help a lot of children to identify them self. It would at least helped me...
I can't see where love and romantic relationships come into kids shows that often and even then it's just little crushes a peck on the cheek etc. So in that case I don't think i'd have a problem with having gay characters kids shows, it would just need to be handled the right way. I'd support this but I can't see it happening any time soon.
Umm...Why do children's cartoons need to address sexuality in the first place? How can a character on a show where you can't even say the word "sex" have a sexual orientation? Do they act camp? If so, then they're not an accurate representation of a homosexual, if not, I can't see how you could even notice this.
Again, no. You see people in these shows that have those crushes? Having a character have a crush on another addresses this as natural. Also apparently in Kim Possible, one of the characters has two moms and this is not called in the show as being weird.KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life said:
i think there is no reason to have gay characters in childrens shows. perhaps 12+ MAYBE but before that no reason. the pure reason for this is that its a kids show. there shouldnt really be any relationshipy stuff in it in the first place.
to extend this, sure, there are familys and stuff, and they COULD make a family have two daddys or two mommys, but honestly, what would be the point? it would confuse kids. when i was in elementary school there was literally NO familys that had gay parents. when i was in high school there was a couple, but it was still 99% straight. it would just raise a bunch of questions 90% of parents shouldnt have to deal with until thier kids are old enough to have questions about thier sexuality.
to extend this, sure, there are familys and stuff, and they COULD make a family have two daddys or two mommys, but honestly, what would be the point? it would confuse kids. when i was in elementary school there was literally NO familys that had gay parents. when i was in high school there was a couple, but it was still 99% straight. it would just raise a bunch of questions 90% of parents shouldnt have to deal with until thier kids are old enough to have questions about thier sexuality.
Certainly. Get back to me when you're feeling better.SuperMse said:Huh. I could have sworn I remembered Steve calling her a boy. I apologize for my mistake- I need time to process this new information.shedra said:http://www.nickjr.com/blues-clues/about-blues-clues/blues-clues-characters.htmlSuperMse said:Magenta's a boy. It's stated numerous times in the show. Not many people realize this, but it's true. I guess the creators wanted to subvert gender roles- nifty.shedra said:In Doctor Who, (Which is a show I could consider a family/kids show) there have been two homosexual characters that I know of. And it doesn't matter that they are. It hardly ever comes up. Only in passing conversation.
As far as exposing homosexuality to smaller children.
Well,
(both girls)
They don't form a lack of acceptance for alternative lifestyles until later.
Read Magenta's article.
:3
Uuugh...another thread conceived by that My Little Pony show...I swear, I'm tempted to eat steroids just to avoid turning into a mindless MLP fanatic...
MUCH MORE ON TOPIC: I think the problem isn't so much with children not accepting homosexuality as it is with teens/adults being surrounded by a culture that outright forbids (and/or looks heavily down upon) any same-sex behavior. I believe there's a TED Talk about how a study showed that children were more open to different solutions to problems than were teens and adults. It's not too far imagine that the teens' and adults' minds had also gone much more "One-Way" in terms of logical thought process.
MUCH MORE ON TOPIC: I think the problem isn't so much with children not accepting homosexuality as it is with teens/adults being surrounded by a culture that outright forbids (and/or looks heavily down upon) any same-sex behavior. I believe there's a TED Talk about how a study showed that children were more open to different solutions to problems than were teens and adults. It's not too far imagine that the teens' and adults' minds had also gone much more "One-Way" in terms of logical thought process.
homosexuals in real life...so kids shows, which are supposed to teach life lessons, are supposed to ignore them? i think not.