Sesame Street Breastfeeding Controversy

[Drtooth]

Well wait, if Muppet characters can be gay, then I think they should be able to talk about breastfeeding.

Don't... just don't make me have the urge to look up Sesame Street characters that have breasts. I don't want to be one of THOSE fans....

 

[CensoredAlso]

Don't... just don't make me have the urge to look up Sesame Street characters that have breasts. I don't want to be one of THOSE fans....

Well technically they all would, but yeah let's move on, lol.

I agree that this is something more suited to a human character. It doesn't have to be a regular character, just a woman with a baby, shouldn't be too hard to find!

 

[Cindy]

But I would argue that that adult was once a child who clearly got the wrong message early in life. And frankly it's hard to mature an immature adult. Almost impossible in fact! Sometimes you do have to start early.

I get that I truly do. And that's exactly why the educators behind Sesame Street have always wanted a diverse human cast (race, sex, ability, etc.) to teach tolerance at an early age. That's also why they have targeted obesity. Start healthy habits young. And for those things sending an early message works. But I don't see the issues surrounding breastfeeding in public on the same level as say discrimination or eating too much candy. It's not until puberty does the breast become a sexual object - and let's be honest, this is why some people object to breastfeeding in public, they think it's offensive. The child Sesame Street viewer sees the breast as one of two things 1) something mommy uses to feed baby brother/sister or 2) just another body part.

I agree, making public breastfeeding more mainstream is a good thing and what's more mainstream than television? That way children, teens, adults and the elderly all see it for what it truly is: feeding a baby. And if Sesame Street adds a cast member who breastfeeds her baby during the show I'm all for it. I just think that this so called "push" as the article states is a little misdirected. Why aren't they asking for shows like "Up All Night" about a young couple and a baby, or a pregnant character Pam from the Office to have more breastfeeding scenes? Just think of all the misconceptions that could be broken by showing adults on adult TV shows doing something as natural as breastfeeding a baby.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Why aren't they asking for shows like "Up All Night" about a young couple and a baby, or a pregnant character Pam from the Office to have more breastfeeding scenes? Just think of all the misconceptions that could be broken by showing adults on adult TV shows doing something as natural as breastfeeding a baby.

Yeah I get what you're saying; the discomfort is something you find in the adult world. And that kind of gesture by adult TV shows could help mothers feel like someone was finally speaking for them.

 

[Drtooth]

I get that I truly do. And that's exactly why the educators behind Sesame Street have always wanted a diverse human cast (race, sex, ability, etc.) to teach tolerance at an early age. That's also why they have targeted obesity. Start healthy habits young. And for those things sending an early message works. But I don't see the issues surrounding breastfeeding in public on the same level as say discrimination or eating too much candy.

I always felt the healthy habits bit was damage control for having McDonalds as a sponsor.

Aside from that, I completely agree... some things are for young children to know, others aren't. Breastfeeding seems like something adult parents could talk about, and I kinda have a feeling that if they talked about it retroactively, like "That's what Mommy did to you" it may confuse kids who were bottle fed.

Still, the problem isn't the subject matter, it's the show. More specifically the tone of the show currently.

However, I can see Sesame Street talking, not so much breastfeeding, but rather about how baby animals get milk from their mothers, and liken it to breastfeeding... sort of as a "humans aren't all that different from animals" type biological/nature lesson.

Still, we just don't have the luxury of Big Bird asking what grown ups are doing unless it's directly related to a curriculum based plot line. And that would mean it has to deal with science, trial and error, nature, healthy habits, multiplication and more complex math concepts... all that stuff. The likening human breastfeeding to how calves get milk from the mother cow is as close as the curriculum would get.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I kinda have a feeling that if they talked about it retroactively, like "That's what Mommy did to you" it may confuse kids who were bottle fed.

As a bottle fed kid, I was confused for it two seconds but I got over it! Lol. Being confused is part of learning and there's nothing wrong with that. That's WHY you are taught things so you won't be confused anymore. It's kind of funny how terrified we are of "confusing" children as if their little brains will explode. Kids are tougher than they look and they can take a little confusion.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't think most kids would be confused, but then again, Sesame Workshop gets over analytical on things...

Still, everything just brings me back to Sesame Parenting being a more suitable place. Like a "bottlefed vs breastfed, the choice is up to you, the first time parent" type deal. The curriculum and tone of the show currently just doesn't seem to have a very organic way to fit it in... but then again it's like they just have to talk about Yoga now when there's really no call for it. Though, I guess it's something kids do at upscale Mommy and Me classes. I also didn't care for the making sushi segment, because it was just white people and it didn't go into the cultural significance or where it comes from. Seems like the gritty little realistic city street has, like every gritty little city street, been overtaken by Yuppies. I'd be shocked if Ernie and Bert's rent didn't shoot up.

 

[Oscarfan]

Was this posted here yet? It's SW's official statement on the issue on their Facebook page:

Sesame Street is a research-based educational program for preschoolers. Each new season is designed to teach a specific curriculum; this year’s curriculum is science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Sesame Street does not have a mandate against breastfeeding, and the show never made a switch to portray bottle-feeding only. We have depicted breastfeeding in the past, and would include it again in the future if it was a natural part of the storyline.

So, it's basically what Drtooth said; they COULD talk about it, if it were part of their seasonal curriculum.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah, the show is SOOOOO annoyingly based on a forced focused curriculum now. And some of that curriculum is growing up. Breastfeeding could be talked about, retroactively. Sesame is more about the transition from being a baby to being a big boy/girl. Like that Elmo dumps the pacifier initiative they've had recently.

 

[beaker]

The article

It's a sad culture we live in, where kids in America are taught that it's ok for Muslim villages to be wiped out yet a woman breastfeeding in public(or two men holding hands) is horrible.

Seriously, what is more natural than a woman breastfeeding? Politicians talk about what is "natural and unnatural", well shoot...that's about as basic and natural as it gets.
Kids these days are being forced to consume Monsantos GMO hormone filled milk,
high fructose corn syrup, ammoniaized pink goo "meat" products, pulverized chicken goop, etc...but a mother's breast milk. Yeah that's unnatural. "Breastfeeding is bad, contraception is bad. I should go roll up my jeans, put on some do wop, and get ready for it to be 1955 all over again.

No wonder Europe laughs at us.