"Don't be a girl" - really?

[FunnymalsOnPop]

I really didn't expect to hear "Don't be a girl" on a kids' tv show, and so I've just sent this email to the Pop TV channel. Will be interesting to hear their response, if I get one at all.

"My son and I were enjoying Funnymals - very funny programme, great voices, loved it. Such a shame then to hear the response to a cormorant who didn't want to play: "Kevin, don't be a girl!"

I'm a girl, I'm good at sport, and I love to play sport. I felt the need to remind my son of that fact, and to remind him that other girls were similarly gifted at all types of sports, and being a wet blanket wasn't a typical trait of the gender.

Disappointing to have to point that out, broke the merriment somewhat. Please remember that as a programme broadcasting to children, you have a responsibility to avoid reinforcing negative stereotypes."

Would you be surprised/disappointed to hear this?

Excellent post Funnymals.

Well done op for complaining. Casual sexist is insidious. It's a drip, drip feed that to be a girl is less than to be a boy. Without sexism, there would be no environment for disgusting practices such as fgm. Sexism should be challenged every time.

Yes we are all different. I love that we are all different. An innate difference does not equate to an innate inferiority though.

Saying it's just a joke and you're a bad sport for not taking the joke is just a way of maintaining societies status quo, keeping women in their place.

the thing that would have bothered me is the fact its implying that girls are wimps and its being used to insult. now i agree that men can be better at certain things, as can women. but i do agree that it is wrong to use such a phrase in a kids program. children are very easily influenced in their thought process as we all know, so in my eyes its wrong to have your child think they have to do something through fear of being called 'girly' if they dont.

Well done for complaining op, we need to raise the expectations for our daughters and keep fightin' the good fight.

It's on CBeebies too. Watching an episode of Peter rabbit a few weeks ago, the boy characters kept saying 'girls' in a sort of eye-rolling fashion whenever the girl characters did/said something (I wasn't watching that closely but tuned in when I heard this). Not sure who the actual fuck thought this was suitable viewing for preschoolers but it got switched off sharpish here.

There has yet to be a successful UK prosecution for FGM. It was criminalised 30 years ago. I understand cats frustration.

What a peculiar reaction- do you and cats bring in fgm on all threads - parking ones, pregnancy ones, mil ones, TV ones, or is it only sexist language that you don't think people should be discussing?

And it's not a "little thing". It perpetuates the idea that half the world is not as good as the other half. That's a really big thing imho.

Glad you are pursuing this OP. Outrageous.

I'd like to think you will get a positive response OP and would be interested to hear what they say.

Of course things like this matter.

I've had a response, which I think is reasonable:

We apologise that this was shown during an episode of Funnymals. We completely agree that a line or phrase such as this does not have a place in our programming nor any other.

We are going to edit this particular episode so that this does not appear should we choose to show the episode again.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and again, we sincerely apologise for this.

Good on you op.post the response if you get one.

There are some right daft posters
out today though.

Oh well done op. Good result.

A good outcome OP, I think. Well done for highlighting it.

Fantastic result OP - hopefully if we all keep challenging the "little things" and getting similar responses we'll get rid of this for good.

Well done OP and good response.

That's a great result. Well done OP, you've really made a difference

catsinthecraddle Like the poster where did you get that from?

And the great thing with "the little things" is that one person sending one email, which probably took 15 mins or so, has made this little thing stop.

Brilliant, OP.

Another victory, however small!

Well done OP!

Thank you all for supporting me in this. Now I can change my name and move on!

Good result

Wahey!

Well done OP you did the right thing and I love the response.

For people who don't understand. Males and females are not the same but they are equal. This saying suggests girls are lesser. My kick boxing dd doesn't punch like a girl. She punches how she punches as a person.

However remarks like this

I agree with you but you've posted this in AIBU, rather than Feminism, which means you're going to have people coming along telling you that you're making a fuss over nothing, sexist doesn't exist anymore (because they've done well for themselves as a woman so therefore every woman now has equality), feminism is no longer relevant, sexual harassment doesn't exist (because they've never experienced it), etc, etc

piss me off.

There are plenty of feminist who don't frequent the feminist boards. The OP can post where she bloody wants and shouldn't be put off because some people may disagree. I am sure she can argue her point if she feels she should or ignore them of she wishes.