Are ‘Sesame Street’ Characters Too Masculine?
According to the NY Post a mother named Susie Wong-Benjamin reached out to Pampers to check whether she had bought fake Pampers. Her concern was she did not see the Sesame Street characters that she's become familiar with. She claims an unnamed representative told her “Parents who have daughters thought that the Sesame Street characters are too masculine."
The Post reached out to Proctor & Gamble, who owns Pampers, and asked if parents were complaining about a lack of female representation and after some back and forth, they ultimately said no. Here is what was provided to the Post from a Proctor & Gamble spokesperson named Laura Dressman:
We learned there was a growing desire from Moms and Dads for modern, fresh graphics.
With that explained, here are my thoughts:
- Do I believe the mom was told the move away from the Sesame Street characters was due to gender issues? Yes.
- Do I believe this mom was told this by someone at Proctor & Gamble? Yes.
- Do I believe the spokesperson who said the change was about a growing desire for new graphics? No.
If an all-male cast of fictional characters on diapers that hold pee and poo are the destruction of society, the reason for intolerance or the cause for gender imbalance in society, then I don't fit here on Earth anymore. You can't explain it to me, because I will never get it, and I don't want to. I am actually more interested in the masculinity pecking order of the Sesame Street characters in question. The diapers, they say, used to feature Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.
I must say, this question is tougher than I thought, but upon some reflection and deep thought, I say it breaks down like this:
1 - Oscar the Grouch
2 - Cookie Monster
3 - Elmo
4 - Big Bird
Oscar lives in the garbage. This means he screwed up his life and likely, the lives of many others over the years. Odds are, that he did this by making poor choices, and if we know anything about guys, we can take masculinity too far. We all know that we are prone to making poor choices here and there. Oscar is the kind of dude, who said, "hey, watch this" one too many times. That sentence is never followed by an act of kindness or a productive activity. Oscar probably had something to prove, maybe a chip on his shoulder, before you know it, you are in your 50s and going to music festivals every single weekend.
First it's festivals and then it's on to small time drug dealing, stealing copper scrap and before you know it, you are living in a trash can and losing your diaper endorsement dollars.
The "lesson" here- masculinity, have it, don't let it have you.
P.S. If the decision too move away from Sesame Street characters on Pampers diapers was due to gender issues, someone other than me has WAY too much time on their hands.
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