television

[bex473]

Hello, is it just me or has any other mums, dads etc,got a problem with cbeebies, dirtgirlworld, there is alot on tv, that i think is inappropriate for young children, but dirtgirlworld, is just awful, i think it is completely oversexualised and lacks any substance, does anyone else agree??

I have not seen dirtgirlworld. If it is any way sexualised my children will not be viewing it. I don't like Tracey Beaker, as many of the children are unpleasant to each other ( and adults) and I don't want my son to watch it.

Will look out for dirtgirlworld.

my plan was if enough people opposed it, i would take my grivance to the bbc, with some real support, i.e. mums opinions! horrid henry is another one, where henry is a vile child, unfortunately, i see the henry's off the world everytime i go to the supermarket! thanks for repl, hope more comment!

I thought Horrid Henry was on CITV?

CBeebies is pretty heavy-handed about their educational subtexts but I'm sure it's lost on most of the children it's aimed at. If you think Dirtgirlworld is sexualised, chances are it's only the adults watching getting that message & not the average pre-schooler. I know a few Dads that harbour fantasies about Balamory's Miss Hoolie, for goodness' sake. Horrid Henry is in the grand tradition of other 'naughty' characters such as Dennis the Menace and William Brown.

Why should all TV programmes for children have 'substance' anyway? What's wrong with a bit of silly entertainment?

Hello, nothing wrong with silly entertainment at all,and yes i have no objection to dennis the menace, but dennis was naughty in an old fashioned way, getting up to mischief etc, whereas horrid henry just adds to this culture we live in where children wear t-shirts saying, 'i'm the boss' 'i'm not listening' adverts that portray children as demanding little so and so's and parents that are absolutlely clueless how to deal wth their precious little offspring, have you been to a supermarket recently, i.e. the world is full of them and the supermarket microcosm, represens it all perfectly..and bras for girls of six or seven, oversexualised and dirtgirlworl perpetuates this...rant over! if you are still reading!

If, as a parent, you don't want your child to have t-shirts with aggressive slogans or wear bras age six or seven then no-one's twisting your arm up your back to do so. If all parents decided not to buy these things there would be no market and they would simply not exist. The fact that many people think they are 'cute' & go on to buy them in large amounts cannot be attributed to the content of children's television.

Individuals have very different personal standards. Pass your values onto your own family and by all means be judgemental about other people's low standards... but don't expect to change them by writing to CBeebies.

i don't expect to change them, i was illustrating a wider issue, that as a society as a whole we have got it terribly wrong somewhere, i would love to live in a world where bras weren't for sale for young girls and mothers didn't put their children in inappropriate t-shirs, thats what i would like, the market not to exist, and in fact one large chain has removed them because so many mothers complained, its a bloody outcry, and yes television does have a role to play in it all, of course it does, opium of the people and all that, its not about having low standards its about not having the good sense to see how inappropriate it all is, radio four did an excelent play about a mother who, 'flaunted' her six year old daughter on a internet site and saw nothing wrong with it...because of the world we live in, from dirt girlworld to t-shirts to the trash on mtv etc...the media is how children construt their worlds, its their biggest in put...do you get it now?

I'd never heard of the programme (DCs having moved on to CBBC), and was wondering what sort of programme it was.

As the "dirt" is compost, and the programme is all about growing your own, recycling and gardening, I can't quite see where the concerns about sluttishness come in.

All the principle characters' heads are drwn big for their bodies, but there isn't a bra or crop top in sight.

What exactly about this Eco-programme is the issue?

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH1w_DEEnZo&feature=related and here]

sorry

lol - no there is no bra tops in sight, see original posting, it is just over sexualised, the big eyes, big mouth etc, its akin to britney spears and one of her pop videos -

Surely the main objection to dirtgirlworld is that it's crap.

Having just clicked on the link I really don't get where the over sexualisation is. They look like normal cartoon characters to me.

@bex473... Children just aren't thinking the way you are. They see a cartoon girl in dungarees with big eyes and a big mouth. It's you that's trying to give it a soft-pornographic twist. Some mothers may well flaunt their children on the internet. Others think it's OK to dress them up in ringlets and make-up and send them into beauty pageants. If you don't agree with what others do, simply don't do it.

Dirtgirlworld sexual??

Sorry, I buy into the whole Let Girls be Girls thing wholeheartedly but I just can't see a problem with DGW.

I'm afraid I don't even subscribe to the 'Let Girls be Girls' campaign .. mostly because I'm against banning things for the sake of it. Padded bras or stiletto heels for pre-schoolers (or whatever the item is, I can't say I've seen any) are obviously a tasteless fashion but banning fashion has a track-record of being a complete and utter failure. Where there's a market, buyers and sellers will find each other. Where there's a banned product, they will make even more of an effort to track it down and pay the earth into the bargain!

Fashions fizzle out much more quickly when it becomes old hat and everyone moves onto the next thing. A bit of judgemental, playground peer pressure... 'good grief, look what that appalling mother has dressed her poor daughter in'... speeds it on its way.

BEX473. I looked at dirtgirlworld. Is this originally from Japan? Many cartoon characters from Japan have big eyes/mouth etc, so this may not be about sexualisation.
Just a thought.

bex473 - I agree with you. The girl character in dirtgirl world is very flirtatious/simpering and is not acting in the way we would expect a little girl to.

I can see that this is your first thread here on MN and you're not getting much agreement! That's why I decided to jump in and post. (NB "politics" is probably not the best place - you could try Am I Being Unreasonable...

You sound like you may be interested in the the Let Girls be Girls campaign thread and this follow up.

More info about Let Girls Be Girls campaign.

I suggest that you add your comment re dirtgirlworld onto the Let Girls Be Girls thread.

The previous government commissioned a review into the sexualisatoin of young people - it's worth a read - it is <a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100418065544/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Sexualisation-of-young-people.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.

You will find some like minded people in the Feminism/Women's Rights section of MN.

Chil1234 - interesting that you can find the time to bother to try to persuade someone not to campaign for something which they feel strongly about.

How hideous that you are saying that OP is putting a "soft-pornographic twist" on it.

Let's get something clear: the sexualisation of young children doesn't mean that we think that they are seeing things in the same way as adults.

Some info from the review:

^This review looks at how sexualised images and messages may be affecting the development of children and young people and influencing cultural norms, and examines the evidence for a link between sexualisation and violence.

The decision by the government to commission this review reflects the importance of the issue and the popular perception that young people (and in particular young women and girls) are increasingly being pressured into appearing sexually available.

The report looks at examples and the prevalence of sexualisation in culture and proposes mechanisms by which sexualised messages are being internalised and the consequences of these on young people.

The world is saturated by more images today than at any other time in our modern history. Behind each of these images lies a message about expectations, values and ideals.

Women are revered ? and rewarded ? for their physical attributes and both girls and boys are under pressure to emulate polarised gender stereotypes from a younger and younger age. The evidence collected in this report suggests these developments are having a profound impact, particularly on girls and young women.

You're making a different point. The review to which you refer is examining how the broader culture impacts on young people. Yes, the world is saturated with sexual images, emphasising certain physical attributes. But any little girl wishing to 'emulate polarised stereotypes' as displayed by the Dirtgirl of the original post would want to have to have a head the size of a spacehopper. Not realistic or obtainable in the slightest. And I may be 'hideous' but I still think that anyone looking at Dirtgirl and thinking 'she's very sexy' is ascribing sexual attributes where none exist.

I said that what you said was hideous not that you were!

Have you done either of these things:

1. Actually watched a whole episode of dirtgirl or

1. Read any of the review I linked to?

I am just interested in how you reach your point of view.

I like cebeebies because I don't want DS to see adverts atm (he is 3.0). I will explain adverts to him when he is a bit older and I'd like to be watching TV with him so I can interpret the ads for him.

All of the cebeebies progs he has shown an interest in I have been happy with apart from dirtgirl.

As soon as I saw it I was OMG - what on earth - the girl seemed to be acting like something out of a pop video.

So I have avoided this prog. In any case if DS is watching it is usually prerecorded progs on the PVR or on iplayer.

Just did a search and there are lots of threads where MNers report finding dirtgirl world disturbing:

here, here, here and here.

I believe that the BBC takes feedback seriously. It stands to reason that if there are some complaints about this prog and not about others then this is the one which will not be rebroadcast/recommissioned.

I've seen the programme and the only remotely sexual aspect is that the girl character winks a lot. The big wobbly head and big eyes owe more to rag dolls than anything else. The creepiest aspect are the human faces inserted into cartoon scarecrows and creepy-crawlies... like that horrible TellyTubby baby/sun creation.

Having seen quite a lot of MN threads on various things that supposedly sexualise children I am struck that taste and decency mean radically different things to different people. A thread about a pair of fairly ordinary, low-heeled, shiny black children's boots with diamante detail reached new lows, I seem to remember.... there were howls of 'whore' and 'prostitute'. Totally out of proportion to the product.

There are cultures where the motive to keep girl children safe from harm and away from anything remotely sexual means that they can't go outside the home without their faces covered and other highly restrictive practices are justified 'for their own good'. I simply think we have to maintain a sense of perspective and not twist everything to suit a particular agenda.