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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

In questioning the following lyrics in DS's christmas play?

99 replies

Chickenshavenolips · 19/11/2009 17:32

The song is called 'Girl Power':

'We have got the brains
We have got the skill
We have even got the brawn
We don't need a man, that's overkill
And besides, they make us yawn'

And

'We have got the strength
The mental push
We have got the driving steam
We don't need a man with brains of mush...'

And

'We can do anything better than you, better than you'

DS is 6. AIBU in thinking that this isn't a great message to be sending out to young children? That one sex is 'better than' the other?

OP posts:

pigletmania · 20/11/2009 10:34

sorry meant i am not a man just a normal mum.

pigletmania · 20/11/2009 10:42

So what if it ties in with the play, naughty boy pirates etc, not a good message on young impressionable minds tbh. There is a lot of anti male sentimentality at the moment and its very unsettling and not on.

ChristmasMoon · 20/11/2009 12:21

Theres nothing wrong with boosting girls confidence but not at the expense of boys - it's just wrong.

pippa251 · 20/11/2009 12:28

Complain- this is totally out of order- are there any anti girl songs in the play? Don't think so!

Technoprisoners · 20/11/2009 12:34

"Wtf have pirates got to do with Christmas anyway?" Ours has aliens in

tassisssss · 20/11/2009 12:36

Eeeek, OP.

I'd complain. Well I'd want to, whether I actually would or not...

seaglass · 20/11/2009 12:37

Erm, just to put a bit of perspective on this, the play is, I suspect, Captain Christmas, and the song is a response to male pirates who think the girls will be crap on board a pirate ship (although obviously they don't say crap) To cut a long story short, the girls turn out to be much more able than the bumbling men.

The dc's at school did this a couple of years ago, and having watched it, I can't say I spotted anything sexist about it. Maybe not a good idea to pick out one song without hearing the rest of the story, or other songs.
YABU

seaglass · 20/11/2009 12:39

And now I can't get the fecking song out of my head. AAAAAARGH!

NanaNina · 20/11/2009 12:48

Ah until I saw your post seaglass I thought the school had gone mad. I suppose seeing the song quoted out of context makes it seem awful (and I consider myself a feminist) especially for such young children. Maybe in the context of the play it is wholly different. Maybe the OP should have given more explanation but maybe she didn't realise.

Original poster

Chickenshavenolips · 20/11/2009 12:57

seaglass, that is the play. However, they have cut it down considerably from the 50-odd minutes it should run, to just under 30, so a lot of the story has been cut out. I don't see why the pirates all have to be boys, tbh, and why they can't substitute 'pirates' for 'men' in the song. The girls being better than the 'bumbling men' is the problem.

OP posts:

Adair · 20/11/2009 12:59

Well, I guessed that that would be the context of the song. And d'you know what? As a feminist, I still don't like it. I don't like giving kids ideas that maybe girls are not as good as boys SO ooh, let's prove them wrong. It just reinforces stereotypes and tbh puts stupid ideas in kids heads that maybe weren't even there. As far as 6 year olds are concerned, why COULDN'T girls be pirates? Why not just include everybody as blimmin' pirates and no bloody ishoo about it?

(not to mention pirates being appropriated as child-friendly material)

manfrom · 20/11/2009 13:02

Captain Christmas? WTF? What's wrong with mary, joseph, a few donkeys, shepherds and angels?

My two aren't old enough for school yet so I guess I've got all this to look forward to.

p.s. I was a donkey three years in a row.

Jamieandhismagictorch · 20/11/2009 13:04

Why do girls have to be pitted against boys ?

seaglass · 20/11/2009 13:06

Ummm, it's just a school play, children don't equate that with real life at all, and anyway, life is full of occasions where men/boys think they are better than women/girls, it's one of the sad facts of life.

I bet teachers will be hard pushed to find any school play that isn't full of stereotypes and cliches, and to be honest, I think they have enough on their plates seeing that the children learn their lines, making sure costumes and scenery are done, without having to think about whether the parents would be upset over one song (which in context, is very funny - and that says something for a primary school play!)

I've seen the play, there are no issues in it at all, apart from the fact that some adults see fit to rip it apart on the basis of one song.

Original poster

Chickenshavenolips · 20/11/2009 13:13

My son was upset about this song, seaglass, and I don't think that is acceptable. Excusing it based on 'life is full of occassions where men/boys think they are better than women/girls' does not make it right. I actually think it's a rubbish example to set boys and girls. Perhaps older children would understand the context, but at 6 I very much doubt it. All my DS heard was 'girls are better than boys'. Hardly a useful message.

OP posts:

Adair · 20/11/2009 13:15

How depressing.

I am a teacher. It is a teacher's responsibility to ensure that children are looked after. That means not exposing them to racist/sexist/ageist material just because it's easy and available .

Perhaps this particular play is fine - haven't seen it (though I do have issues as above). But I have a MASSIVE issue with the idea that 'it's just a school play, children don't equate that with real life at all'.

Jamieandhismagictorch · 20/11/2009 13:17

Hear hear

WilfSell · 20/11/2009 13:19

YANBU. I'd be bloody furious. Whatever it says, it justifies the idea that it is OK to round on a group and diminish them.

You might wish to point out this is probably against their anti-bullying policy, if there's even a sniff that 6yos might misunderstand the context and the report published yesterday pointing out the relative underachievement of white low-income boys at all levels of education.

Nothing like knocking em down early huh?

Insist they take it out.

tamm26 · 20/11/2009 13:31

Do get it pulled from the school play ....straight to the head saying its very simple ...bin it ....let them think of something else and let the children know that this teacher ...was pants ....my school would come up with some bull shit like "they thought of it themselves"...tough one but at least take your child out of it ...or have those that "thought of it" do it. Truely pants ....

Original poster

Chickenshavenolips · 20/11/2009 13:36

The play has been purchased by the school, it's not something that the teachers or children have come up with themselves. I think I will have a word with the senior staff member again at home time and suggest that the references to 'men' are changed to 'pirates'.

OP posts:

pigletmania · 20/11/2009 13:38

Seagrass what would you have done if it were a boypower song putting down women and girls , not so understanding huh. That song would not be tolerated in any adult workplace and would be considered sexist abuse, why should it be different at school. At that young age, minds are impressionable, they find it difficult to distingusih reality for fiction. Its a disgusting song which shows a lack of imagination and forsight.

pigletmania · 20/11/2009 13:40

Yes chicken please do, this play is meant to be for both boys and girls and to have fun at the expense of others is totally unacceptable.

RedTartanLass · 20/11/2009 14:02

Jeez think I?ve over dosed on mnet today as I?ve just fallen into this weird parallel universe where mners are getting upset with the lyrics of a 6 year olds play, which they haven?t even seen! This must be the parallel universe where the little old woman didn?t whip her children soundly and the old man wasn?t thrown down the stairs by a goose, god forbid any LOs learning those! Are me an? seagrass that think YABU, how very weird!!!

CarryOnDancing · 20/11/2009 14:11

Seagrass, songs and stories are exactly the places that children learn morals and begin to come to grips with the complex adult world. I fail to see how allowing the antiquated girls v boys scenario to filter into another generation is a good idea. Especially in a school environment where the key issues should be education and making the vunerable feel secure in the big wide world.

I agree its not scandal on the century but taking a back seat on such a volatile issue is fool hardy, especially when the little boy has voiced his concern about it! There is nothing wrong with active parenting.

seaglass · 20/11/2009 15:08

I completely agree about morals and complex adult world issues, all I'm saying is, I saw the play in question, the context was a bunch of pirates rescuing some girls who offered to help out, and turned out to be pretty good at it too.
The song was directed at a bunch of bumbling/funny pirates who were proved wrong in their assumptions, and in the end, accept that the girls are as good as them - not better.
It wasn't a rant against men in general, and I really don't see how it could have been taken as such, particularly by a 6 year old boy - unless he is exceptionally perceptive and sensitive.

RedTartanLass - I'm sharing your parallel universe moment

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