LGBT In Kids TV Shows?

[RavenEye]

So I've been in a huge TV mood lately, and as I watching Skins (UK only of course!) I got to thinking of other shows like it such as Degrassi. Then I thought why is LGBT only in 14+ TV shows? Why don't we see LGB (I think the T might scare some kids haha) in cartoons? I noticed that as time goes on that they are starting to do this. Such as Nickolodeon and the show Fred (even though he annoys the hell out of me). Am I an extremist for thinking such things? What do you guys think?

[elian]

Well the logical question would be when do children start to develop a sexual identity? I would guess that by 12-14.. so 14+ isn't so far off.

I don't think there is any issue with showing compassion for all people and different types of relationships to children as young 9 or 10 as long as it is done in a healthy, respectful way but I am not every parent..I'm not a parent at all as a matter of fact.

[Darkside2009]

So I've been in a huge TV mood lately, and as I watching Skins (UK only of course!) I got to thinking of other shows like it such as Degrassi. Then I thought why is LGBT only in 14+ TV shows? Why don't we see LGB (I think the T might scare some kids haha) in cartoons? I noticed that as time goes on that they are starting to do this. Such as Nickolodeon and the show Fred (even though he annoys the hell out of me). Am I an extremist for thinking such things? What do you guys think?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think it might leave television producers open to charges of indoctrinating children. Which in turn might lead to advertisers withdrawing their revenue from those channels.

Besides, children are children for such a short period in their life why not leave them alone, let them enjoy their childhood, without trying to sexualise them.

[mikey3000]

I watched a kids' show last year (because I have young-uns') called Zeke And Luther. This episode was when the two teenage boys were going to visit the birthplace of their hero, Tony Hawk (the professional skateboarder), of whom they are both enamoured.

In one scene Luther lovingly rolled around on Tony's bed and then in the next they scored a pair of Tony Hawk's used underwear and fought who gets to keep and/or wear them. I was really taken aback a little. My kids clearly got the message that these two boys were, "in love with Tony Hawk."

Here's the clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGd5EOtNSm8&feature=related

[elian]

LOL - I see your point mikey..I think that's pretty liberal compared to what they used to show on TV when *I* was growing up.

[mikey3000]

No kidding! Neither Fred nor Barny shared a bed with their wives, yet you got this garbage on tv? I remember when I was young I never hadcraplikethisontvitwasallwholesomefamilyentertai nmentthateveryonecou....

OMG! I'm my Grandpa. :eek:

:bigrin:

[Darkside2009]

No kidding! Neither Fred nor Barny shared a bed with their wives, yet you got this garbage on tv? I remember when I was young I never hadcraplikethisontvitwasallwholesomefamilyentertai nmentthateveryonecou....

OMG! I'm my Grandpa. :eek:

:bigrin:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WIIIIIIILLLLMA! Grandpa is just going to bed, try to keep the noise from the TV down.

[DuckiesDarling]

I'm wondering if the OP has any kids since the last few threads by them have been regarding kids and sexuality and what should be taught.


As for this thread, why can't we just let kids be kids for awhile longer, 14 is about the right time frame for them to start thinking more mature thoughts. Should Bob the Builder have a gay dumptruck? Not unless it serves more of a purpose than trying to push something down everyone's throats. There are already questions regarding any popular character who has to be purple, think TinkyWinky from Teletubbies and Barney. I'd much rather they continue to concentrate on the values we try to instill in our children, honor and integrity and tolerance. If they continue to do that then the programming later in life that reflects alternate sexualities will be met with an open mind. :2cents:

[Long Duck Dong]

what can we really show them about LGB outside of the bedroom.... ?

yes we can show them that LGBT are just like everybody else, humans I mean..... our behievour is often not like everybody else..... but what really defines us as LGBT that we can show on tv in kids programs ???

" this is my friends bert and ernie, they share the same bed and they have safe sex, your mummy and daddy did too, but your daddy is not your daddy, the milkman is, or the baker, or the doctor... "

oh reality tv for kids :tong:

[elian]

No kidding! Neither Fred nor Barny shared a bed with their wives, yet you got this garbage on tv? I remember when I was young I never hadcraplikethisontvitwasallwholesomefamilyentertai nmentthateveryonecou....

OMG! I'm my Grandpa. :eek:

:bigrin:

<smiles> but I was thinking, is a child that young really going to view that show and think something sexual is going on? Probably not, just like all the other cartoons they play these days everything is over-exaggerated and the children probably just think it's funny (or stupid) that two boys are fighting over a pair of underwear.

I used to think it was kind of bizarre that you could see spongebob's underwear on more than one occasion but children love jokes about bodily humor, probably because it makes adults feel uncomfortable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbRyo6mji4E

[æonpax]

90% of the kids programming in the US (Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, et al) is as inane and senseless (but harmless) as it's always been. While I would not be against occasionally showing parents as being the same gender, it's not an issue with me.

What I am strenuously opposed to is TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras ~ http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/toddlers-tiaras ~ which objectifys and sexualizes young girls under six and their incredibly stupid and amoral parents.

[darkeyes]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]90% of the kids programming in the US (Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, et al) is as inane and senseless (but harmless) as it's always been.


Inane and senseless ok.. stupefying as well... and u consider that harmless, æon? Think ur ace an have a lot to say, but u have it wrong here babes... Disney with good wholesome old fashioned family values harmless? That kids telly has been dumbed down so much for a quick buck and the consequential dumbing down of telly right up to the day we die? Harmless? Shorter concentration spans.. increased inactivity, peeps so fascinated by the cult of personality that stars are more important to them than just bout owt else..., who believe half the tripe films tell them, even that the characters in some soaps are real peeps, and that film drama is proper history.. bloody hell babes... Disney and co isnt harmless... it does what it is intended... to turn kids, teens and in time adults into morons who wont cut up rough against the status quo and allow others to do wtf they like..

[æonpax]

Fran,

Every generation has had their share of dumbass cartoons. If you want to get specific, in one of my mass com classes, we went through cartoons and kids programs. Take the old aaap Popeye cartoons, from the 1940’s and 50’s.. Two grown men beating each other to a pulp over the ugliest female in the world, Olive Oyl. Not only that, they would abuse her: punch her, hog tie her, wack her ass, etc, etc. In theory, that generation should have produced males that were violently misogynistic…but I don’t think so. They realized what I did, it’s only make believe.

My younger girls watch Wizards of Waverly with Selina Gomez, On Disney, among other garbage. That show is totally obnoxious but they watch it to see Selena and have no problem seeing it as is, pretend. My oldest who is way beyond kids cartoons, came out of that phase in life, totally unaffected. Too many people don’t give kids the benefit of the doubt.

What really affects kids are parents, that’s real. Violence and drug abuse in the home is real. Sexual abuse in the family is real. Alcohol abuse is real. Parental hypocrisy is real. That effects kids infinitely more than dumb, stupid “kids programs.”

Harmless? Relatively speaking? Yes

[darkeyes]

Am much more cynical bout kids telly... as I am bout adults telly.. dont actually watch a lot and never have.. our kids dont watch that much either cos they have too many other interests.. from music both playing and listening (and listening is not all pop either), their friends, outside activities, reading, crafts and art...they can both hold convos beyond their years and have good attention spans.. they question (at times 2 bloody much).. contrast that half the kids they know from school or nursery school and they know how to really have fun..

Unlike many kids they dont get to watch telly as and when they feel like it.. they certainly are not allowed to sit and watch dross in their rooms until God knows when nor in fact do they want to... and in a similar vein they dont get to play computer games forever and a day either.. and they dont want to do that either.. they know a bit more about the world for their age than most of the peers, not always cos weve made sure if it but cos they want to... and they dont get that off telly either at least rather little of it..

I do not have a downer on kids watching telly.. I do on kids watching mind numbing bull ad infinitum.. and many kids do... their social skills are damaged by too much of the wrong thing and by parental negligence.. sticking kids in front of the box and letting them watch whatever.. things they dont have to think about.. the telly is their parent as much as those who are their guardians.. telly has its place for entertainment fun and education.. so do computer games.. but such is the way so many kids are raised nowadays that telly and computer games are just about the bee all and end all.. and as they grow, the damage done to them as kids hampers them as adults and they become the morons that the likes of Disney, Fox and many other "entertainment" providers want them to be.. as well as of course the worst of our political elite..

[Gearbox]

During the Xmas period I had a Santa hanging from a bedroom window. One of those Santa's that looks as if he's climbing up rope to your bedroom.
Well unfortunately his trousers fell down to reveal his sponge ass for all and sundry. (NO! It was NOT an advert!:rolleyes:).

My 7yo nephew informed me that I have a GAY Santa.lol Apparently he was gay because his ass was bared. I didn't ask what he'd be if the other side was exposed.:eek:

Don't know HOW he got that symbolism for gays (:rolleyes::tongue::bigrin:) but he got it from somewhere!
Children are not oblivious to the fact that there are different sexualities. What needs to be shown is that those sexualities exist outside of sexual content in perfectly 'normal' relationships, just the same as for hetrosexuals IMO.

(I tied his trousers up 2weeks later when the townsfolk had all had a chuckle!lol).

[tenni]

Gear
Ya sure you pulled up his trouser's when the advert did not work:tong::bigrin:

I've been thinking about this thread.
In Gear's 7 year old nephew calling the Santa as being gay, he may be not aware of homosexuality but is aware that it didn't fit his "norm" of how Santa should be and he has labelled it gay...meaning "not right".

What I have been thinking is that some character's in dramas, TV shows, cartoon might be given "stereotypical" gay/lesbian traits or traits that may not adhere to the "norm" of masculine/feminine. Have the male character who might be a book reader, cookie baking etc. become the hero. I'm not sure how far to go as kids pick out, pick on the other kids who act differently. They call them gay when there are no sexual aspects to their behaviour. It may or may not work by using behaviour traits that tend to lean towards gay/lesbian stereotypes. This is particularly important for males as somehow it is a little less "gay" for a girl to be a tomboy. (I suspect that darkeyes or aeon may challenge that but hopefully you get the jist).

The key might be the hero or protangist and what behaviour traits that they have. I mean wasn't Clarke Kent a bit "gay"...lol:bigrin: Superman all masculine hero. Lisbpy Snagglepus, and Bo Bo (Yogi the Bear) a bit fem? Not over the top though. Neither were the protagonist though.

[RavenEye]

I meant adding LGB in like gay parents. Or something of the sort. Or maybe a same sex crush. I had a same sex crush in elementary school.

Sidenote: It's funny because I also had a girl crush at the same time. At no point of my adolescence did I think what I am was wrong. It wasn't until middle school (and my dad became a christian) and their teaching got in my head and got me really confused. Oh how I wish I was a child again when the only thing I had to worry about was breating.

[mikey3000]

Fran,

Every generation has had their share of dumbass cartoons. If you want to get specific, in one of my mass com classes, we went through cartoons and kids programs. Take the old aaap Popeye cartoons, from the 1940’s and 50’s.. Two grown men beating each other to a pulp over the ugliest female in the world, Olive Oyl. Not only that, they would abuse her: punch her, hog tie her, wack her ass, etc, etc. In theory, that generation should have produced males that were violently misogynistic…but I don’t think so. They realized what I did, it’s only make believe.

My younger girls watch Wizards of Waverly with Selina Gomez, On Disney, among other garbage. That show is totally obnoxious but they watch it to see Selena and have no problem seeing it as is, pretend. My oldest who is way beyond kids cartoons, came out of that phase in life, totally unaffected. Too many people don’t give kids the benefit of the doubt.

What really affects kids are parents, that’s real. Violence and drug abuse in the home is real. Sexual abuse in the family is real. Alcohol abuse is real. Parental hypocrisy is real. That effects kids infinitely more than dumb, stupid “kids programs.”

Harmless? Relatively speaking? Yes

The topic is LGBT in Kids Tv shows. There was no sexuality is Popeye or WOWP for that matter.

Also, most families didn't have TV in the home until the early fifties, and when they did, children didn't nearly spend as much in front of a screen as they do today. Your examples are totally irrevelant.

As for TV not having an effect of our children, well, just observe product placement in these programs or observe commercials. Companies spend billions of $$ a year influencing your child's likes and dislikes. That should be painfully obvious.

[elian]

The topic is LGBT in Kids Tv shows. There was no sexuality is Popeye or WOWP for that matter.

Also, most families didn't have TV in the home until the early fifties, and when they did, children didn't nearly spend as much in front of a screen as they do today. Your examples are totally irrevelant.

As for TV not having an effect of our children, well, just observe product placement in these programs or observe commercials. Companies spend billions of $$ a year influencing your child's likes and dislikes. That should be painfully obvious.

Oops, for a second there I confused "Popeye" with "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" .. sorry.. <blushes>

[Light_and_Dark]

So my say on this matter as it is quite interesting...No i do not believe that the lgbt perspective should be to far included into childrens cartoons. I do believe that is a topic that should not be broached until children start coming into their own and understanding themselves more....though despite that the LGBT perspective IS in cartoons...anyone that is a bugs bunny fan knows this. That is not the only show that has these bits and pieces in them...any more then it already is and it would be a form of indoctrination.

As to the argument about tv being harmful that is debatable...but tv making children and future generations dumb is extremely over the top...what makes children stupid in regards to their intelligence and tv is the parents not being involved in the child's studies or pushing them to push harder. It is also letting children control their own tv programming..if you slowly allow the basics of life to seep in with their tv programs and make their school a major facet of their home life societies dumb children would stop going away.

I know to many parents that just throw their kid in front of the tv for a baby sitter...sometimes it is good if you are taking a really young child and having them watch the right kind of shows as it can help speed up their education.

I do not believe any form of sexuality should be brought into cartoons...yes they generally keep heterosexual parentage in cartoons and childrens shows because the AVERAGE child has heterosexual parents so instead of catering to the small percentage of LGBT families they just broad shot it with what is average...and slowly begin introducing other aspects of life as children grow up.

LOL