Sexism on CBBC

Um Rod - if you are being serious and not taking the P - then CITV is not anything to do with the BBC it is a commercial channel part of ITV obviously and therefore not funded by the BBC or anything to do with CBBC..

Alison, are you just making the rounds trying to stir the poo on the FWR boards tonight?

I don't think all the villains on children's TV are all men. I'm seeing alot of witches (female) at the moment. Disney does a nice line in female villains from wicked step mothers to Cruella deVille.

Interesting tangent about typecast villains. In most American films and TV programmes, they cast a British actor as a villain!

Total Overreaction.

Many times men and boys are reffered to on Childrens TV in a negative light.

Look at all the villains on childrens TV All men!

Thank you for the Miss Representation link, great stuff have bookmarked to show dd later. (hope the nay-sayers took time out to watch it too)

Good on you for writing the original complaint. Like others, I am much more offended by the non-apology than by the blatant sexism of the commentator.

Agree that: "this comment "made in a self-deprecating fashion by the announcer" makes me think WTF??? so a man is making himself seem like less of a person if he comes across like a girl??? "

I don't think that pre-pubescent girls have naturally higher voices than pre-pubescent boys. Imagine him promising not to squeal like a boy! Or not to squeal like an American (I think they tend to have less husky voices).

That response from the BBC is contemptible. Does anyone know how the complaint can be escalated effectively?

Blue was traditionally a girl's colour as the Madonna was generally depicted wearing blue, and it was seen to denote modesty and chastity. Have just looked back in my Mum's photo album and my 70's party dresses were blue, yellow and purple.

DD, 2 yrs, doesn't wear dresses as they are so impractical for climbing, swinging, sliding and all the other things she loves (I don't wear them either..).

We don't watch much TV other than nightgarden on Ceebies, but if you want to talk about sexism you should try sitting through the ads on 5! During a particularly fraught early morning the other weekend I turned onto 5 and was . I hadn't realised they did ad's directed at children - I'm a bit out of touch I guess - the hideous Lelli Kelli (? spelling) advert for girls shoes complete with free 'make-up' came on and I turned off . The programmes might be great but there is no way we're going to sit through that s**t to watch them!

Hazel - that study was bollocks before they'd even started. If they'd bothered to do the tiniest bit of desk research first they would have seen 'pink is for girls' is not actually true across time. Pink used to be for boys, and blue for girls - certainly as late as the Edwardians. (Pink was seen as a pale red and red as 'active' while blue was 'passive'.) Or they could have gone and looked at some berries and noticed that there aren't actually many edible berries that are pink.

And I imagine there are societies that don't do pink/blue division at all, anyway. It's culturally determined and very recent.

sunshine, I agree. When I was little, I didn't have anything pink, my favourite colour was blue and my prettiest party dress was green. So if it's all natural because our ancestors were picking pink berries, how come it is only manifesting itself in this generation?

do girls have higher pitched voices than boys before puberty hits???

i actually wasn't too bothered by the original remark although i supported you in writing to complain as i think on a taxpayer-funded channel aimed at kids they should be more careful about casual sexism but this comment "made in a self-deprecating fashion by the announcer" makes me think WTF??? so a man is making himself seem like less of a person if he comes across like a girl??? wow - what an altogether fab apology...

I was this close to amending the signs in the toy aisle at Tesco earlier today that were clearly marked "Boys Toys" and "Girls Toys." There was a small section that wasn't designated. I'm surprised they didn't put up a sign saying, "Gender Confused Toys" or similar. Grrrrrrrrr.

There will always be customers wanting pink versions of different toys.I overheard a woman complaining that a drum she wanted only came in blue.She thought it was sexist that there wasn't a pink version.

I was shocked to shit the other day when my2.8 yr old DD turned over a page in a toy catalogue which had 'boys toys' on it saying " no for girls" and flicking pages until the 'pink stuff' came up.Where did she get this crap from? Certainly not me.

Yes, do. And I can't see any reason not to mention the thread.

If anything I said is of any use please go for it

Shall I reply with some quotes from this thread? (I won't mention anyone's usernames or even the site itself).

Yes, the non-apology is cack. It just demonstrates that they genuinely don't have a clue why you were concerned in the first place.

Does the BBC site have a discussion board related to CBBC/CBeebies that you could open a discussion about this on? Also, is there anyone higher in the BBC you could write to?

Yes, I know others have said it's a mountain and a molehill situation. But, the apology seems to suggest that the programme makers or at least whoever responded doesn't understand what the issue is of associating a negative phenomenon with a specific gender and perpetuating gender stereotypes in a way that encourages young people to replicate these.

Thing is, if they don't understand this basic concept, it's all together likely they'll not only continue to do it, but won't recognise that they are doing anything "wrong" if they apply it to racist or other negative stereotypes as well.

Oh wow, it's going in the audience log. THAT will make a huge difference. Not. Ruddy BBC - if it was racism they'd jump on it instantly.

Love the pretend excuse - which amounts to 'high pitched voices are silly' therefore 'girls are silly'. How does that help, exactly?

Not only sexism, but also general rudeness and agressiveness of characters in lots of programmes! Think the BBC should set an example. Channels such as Pop don't seem to need to be rude and agressive at all!

Agree with posters who say it isn't a worthy apology.

So apparently the BBC is sorry that you considered something offensive.

My pet hate is the non-'apology' that goes along the lines of
"I am sorry that you..."
"I am sorry if you..."
"I am sorry you feel..."

Don't apologise for me, thanks. Apologise for your own actions or drop the pretense of regret entirely.

Cleverly crafted but ot entirely satisfactory response from the BBC.

THank you to everyone who took the time to engage with this thread. I've just had the following reply:

Thank you for your comments with regard to ?Young Dracula? broadcast on CBBC on 15 October.

I understand you felt a remark by a continuity announcer was couched in sexist language.

I am sorry you considered these remarks offensive, it is never our intention to offend viewers. This was an off the cuff remark made in a self-deprecating fashion by the announcer and was in no way meant to be sexist. The phrase ?scream like a girl? tends to have the implication of using a high-pitched voice as men sometimes do in extremis. Girls do tend to have higher pitched voices and the implication here is not that girls are more likely to scream, but that panicking men often make high pitched noises.

I do understand you feel very strongly about this, so I?d like to assure you that I?ve registered your concerns on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, programme makers, channel controllers and other senior managers.

The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions on future BBC programmes and content.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to contact us.

I wonder how long it took them to come up with that convenient explanation (given that not one of the posters on here who said it was a harmless remark for x, y, z reasons managed to come up with it. ).

Anyway, job done. Point made and hopefully being considered somewhere. [hsmile]

if it was race, rather than sex, I wonder if the OP would have been hassled. if it was a racist phrase on kids' TV, it would be in the press, but sexist phrases are ok? I thought equality is equality...