Why would a parent not want their children to watch characters?

I know quite a few parents who refuse to buy clothing with any sort of characters on them, but I’ve never heard of restricting a child from Elmo or Mickey Mouse….I mean, Sesame Street is quite educational, so that confuses me.

I personally don’t want Barney crap for my son, because it annoys me…but that’s just a personal preference.

@casheroo What confused me is when I asked her why she said it is a personal thing that she doesn’t agree with but it wasn’t her child, and the child was 1 so I asked her what her mom will do when she is older and gets into the characters on her own and she said her mom will just have to make sure she is never exposed to those characters. I don’t understand it at all, I do understand them being annoying but that wasn’t why, and elmo’s voice annoys me but if that is what my kids like then they will have some headphones, lol

Also she made it like it isn’t a preference thing but that it is a moral thing is what it sounded like but she wouldn’t say why that was

Maybe she, like me, thinks Disney doesn’t actually teach such great lessons but if she picks and chooses, maybe that’s not entirely the reason – I also do not support it because as a corporation, it’s pretty much the devil and it ruined all the fairy tales by sanitizing them and making them black and white about gender and romance

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Yeah but this person let’s her child watch Disney and Veggie Tales…which seems assbackwards to me, since Disney is exactly as you described, or you’ve got Veggie Tales which is Christian based, right? We don’t watch that sort of thing in our household. I’d rather teach my child religion than a bunch of veggies.

I used to love veggie tales

maybe she hates furries.

I really don’t see how Disney characters are “damaging” or whatever. All these things that kids grew up with in previous decades are now being seen as poisonous and what not when they really aren’t. I don’t really get it, but whatevs. I don’t know the answer to your question, sounds to me like something you’ll have to be curious about for a long time…lol. You can’t really tell why someone doesn’t like something like that; their reasons could be pretty odd, you would never know.

@Casheroo I used to have Barney underwear…

@ragingloli lol, somehow I don’t think she’d know about that community…but who knows?

@casheroo yeah, you’re right, don’t know

@ragingloli Why? We are harmless!
Maybe she is trying to keep her kids away from Marketing.
Kids love Mickey, so they end up wanting Mickey stuff. This avoids it.

It’s hard to say why she wouldn’t want her kid to have any character stuff. I never wanted any clothes or shoes for my kids with characters on them, but my mother inevitably would buy them something from some movie they hadn’t seen yet or something. I just let her do it because she liked to. Maybe this lady in question doesn’t let her child watch much TV or something. People get weird ideas about stuff regarding their kids. I was always worried the cat was going to suffocate my daughter when she was a newborn. I guess we’ll just never know.

I can see wanting to keep one’s kids away from so much advertising and false perceptions of reality, but it’s not very realistic. Unless, of course, you plan to keep your child locked away from the world and their peers.

Barney was the all-time worst character. I know of soooo many parents who actually hate Barney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, I found it quite satisfying to give Barney tapes on their birthdays to children whose parents I was not particular fond.

Some family friends brought my daughter 12 Barney VHS tapes when she was about 3. They didn’t ask if she could have them, they just dropped by the house and gave them to her. Needless to say, the tapes drove me nuts! We moved a few months later and “lost” the VCR. Thank God for DVDs

Some parents like to make mountains out of molehills and turn everything into political statements/ moral outrages/ personal agendas when all the kid wants is to dance around and sing with cartoons and big dumb characters. Kids don’t think Disney is sexist because Snow White had to be rescued by a prince, that’s just parents that read too deep into things.

@elijah

You sound like my mom. :P GA

@elijah obviously kids don’t understand these things – that’s what makes it possible for them to get indoctrinated into a sexist heteronormative society…point is the people making those movies, products, stuff, etc. are NOT kids and don’t give two shits about what your kid wants to do

@Simone_De_Beauvoir LOL ”...that’s what makes it possible for them to get indoctrinated into a sexist heteronormative society…”

So that’s what’s happening with all those cartoons and kids shows… :-)

@Zendo no, obviously, Disney is just a piece of it…laugh if you want…

@Simone De Beauvoir if you believe that then I can respect your choice. But I don’t think Disney is out to enslave childrens minds. I’ve always told my kids they can be whatever they want, regardless of their sex. I also support Snow White’s choice to want to be rescued by a prince, and that she’s no less respectable to want a man take care of her. There are plenty of Disney movies that show young girls being the hero.

@elijah no Disney isn’t out to enslave kids, but they aren’t out to enlighten them either…and if you believe the thing about Snow White, I can respect that, but it would be nice to have the princess leave the useless prince once in a while..you know for options’ sake

Back in the 70’s and 80’s there were a lot of rumors about corporate Satanism trying to destroy Christianity. Don’t laugh, a few years ago there was a movement to take Harry Potter out of school libraries because magic and sorcery come from the devil.

Procter and Gamble suffered from a boycott on their cleaning products and a drop in stock prices because their 120 yo logo of a crescent moon and stars was pronounced a satanic symbol; Disney was accused of Satanism because almost all their animated movies had magic, fairies and witches. Mickey was the Magician’s assistant and major character in the early hit, Fantasia;

In fact there is a lot of magic in children’s stories in general. Veggie Tales were designed as religious stories and get things done by strictly adhering to Christian values.

Elmo was a much harder problem. When the Teletubbies were being accused of gender confusion, Elmo’s name came up but nothing ever stuck. Then I came across this:

http://dougpowers.com/2009/05/06/for-first-time-in-adult-life-elmo-proud-of-sesame-street/

At first I thought it was a Colbertesque satire, it was so absurdly funny. I looked up his other blogs and they are just as whacky. He is also published in the extreme rightwing press. This lady’s biggest problem is not what toy to buy, more seriously Grandma is a member of the ideocracy

I don’t see what makes the prince useless, anybody that slays a dragon or saves someone from danger is pretty useful in my book.

@elijah well I don’t remember all the tales and disney things as that’s not something I generally read but those are just metaphors for showy things men have to do to impress the princess

I do agree that is what they are trying to show, where we differ is that I don’t see a problem with men trying to impress women. I also don’t have a problem with Mulan joining the army and kicking dudes butts, or Pocahantas (sp?) saving Capt John Smith from death. I think disney has taken steps to show “girl power”, and I would also hope that they progressively adjust their messages to show other ways of life are just as acceptable.

@elijah I sure hope so

@tinyfaery but there are other dvds, cartoos or whatever that you can choose for your kids – my kids have never seen any Disney stuff whatsoever, I don’t think they’re missing out…unless Frostie the Snowman is Disney, is it?

This is very odd to me. I think the worst character out of all of them are those disney princesses. They don’t teach little girls important things like intelligence and equality. They teach them submissiveness and co-dependence.

I don’t like characters on my children’s clothing, but I did let them have their choice when it came to sneakers. Some parents just have personal preferences that can’t be explained.

And I also have to admit I am amused by the veggie tales. It is the only christian propaganda in our house. There’s just something endearing about a Jesus loving cucumber and his little asparagus friend. And you really can’t go wrong letting veggies teach your child to be kind, honest and selfless.

What is it with this not liking characters on the clothing? What’s the reason for that?

@DominicX well aside from t-shirts with the Cars logo on them looking like poop, it’s not necessary to have your kids walk around as billboards for some company who, as I’ve said previously, wants nothing more than to just get your money by using your children

I hate advertising, but damn does my kid get a kick out of having Thomas on his shirt.

@jamielynn2328 And that’s what right wing ‘family’ values are.

@casheroo surely because he, like my kids, has a hundred Thomas train sets or tooth brush with thomas on it or some dvds – it’s all part of it and it’s called branding

@Simone_De_Beauvoir

It’s just a design. It’s no different than any other brand. It’s also a design that kids like and yeah, it’s made by a company so they make money off of it. That’s not a new concept.

I was Mickey Mouse for Halloween the year before kindergarten. It was an adorable costume. :P I also had Mickey appearing on several of my shirts and what not. My favorite blanket was one with the Disney babies on it. Hell, my mom wears clothing with subtle adult-style Disney designs.

I feel like they should pay me for wearing a shirt with their advertising on it. It’s is somewhat annoying when so much of childrens clothing carries advertising on it. I don’t buy shirts with commercial characters on them because of that.

@DominicX it’s not a new concept but it’s an old concept, for me…so I’d rather get him some colorful shirts done by some random seamstress on Etsy

@YARNLADY

In that line of thinking, isn’t anything with a brand name or brand design on it “advertising”, whether it’s a shirt, a car, a computer, a backpack, etc.? I don’t see how this can be restricted to clothing.

@DominicX yeah anything with that brand on it is advertising, to me…thus you’re stuck choosing between the (boy versions, obviously) spider-man or transformers backpack for your kid…ugh

@Simone_De_Beauvoir

I had an innocuous red/green/blue/yellow colored first backpack.

I don’t know, it’s just not a concern of mine. Brand names of all kinds are everywhere and it doesn’t bother me. Actual willful advertising by shoving billboards and what not and internet advertisements in people’s faces and YouTube video interruptions are what annoy me about advertising. Not an outline of Mickey on a sweatshirt. I think shirts with brand-names on them look good; they are aesthetically pleasing to me. So are ones without names on them. It’s just my preference.

@DominicX look, if it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother you, but it bothers me…to me Mickey represents something else and since my toddler has no particular feelings for it either way, I’d rather him not wear it – would I tell him ‘no you can’t wear that’ if he wanted to? absolutely not, never

@DominicX Yes, anything with any recognizable product is advertising. That is why I only buy items with no recognizable product, and the product shirts I do wear are given to me by the company, so I do wear them. I have VIA from AAA; Mapquest, for sending them a correction on their site; several Yahoo shirts which were prizes and gifts; WikiAnswers shirt, prize; Boomtown, Fitzgerald, Silverado, Pala and Choctaw Casinos, all free promotions; and company shirts from Hubby’s company promotions. I do not wear the Fluther shirt I purchased, but it is hanging in my T-shirt gallery on the wall of my family room.

@YARNLADY

Why does advertising have to be bad? People need to make money to get by in this world.

@DominicX c’mon, hardly is the advertising industry the one that needs our mercy or understanding – their money is made on manipulating you

@Simone_De_Beauvoir

How are people supposed to know products exist without their being advertised in some way?

@elijah Much lurve to you. I agree with everything you’ve said.

The only character anyone needs to worry about is Caillou. He’s a whiny little brat!

@DominicX

Okay, it didn’t let me edit my comment, but this is getting very off-topic and I will probably post another question about that. Sorry for getting this question off-topic.

@jonsblond

Caillou’s voice annoys me. But I had no idea it was from Quebec. I only know because I saw parodies of it on YouTube…

@DominicX some advertising – w big emphasis on some, not eveywehere

@DominicX I’d rather my daughter try to sing like Hannah Montana than whine like Caillou. He’s really annoying!

@DominicX You are reading something into my quip. I specifically said if they want me to wear their advertising, which I will, they have to pay me or give it to me free. Advertising is not bad, it is worth a lot of money, so let them pay, not me.

I got a question to all of you against advertising and kids wearing cute clothes with mickey mouse or disney stuff, do you guys take the letters off your car that says ford or nissan…..etc. or cross out pepsi on a can of pepsi, or take the labels off all canned food? Dominic is right, advertising is how people make their money

@justus2

To me, most of those labels are just identifying rather than advertising. If people want to take it as advertising, so be it.

In clothing, a brand name is part of the design. A word can be a design.

@justus2 It is so interesting that you bring that up. Yes, in as much as I can, I remove the labeling from products I purchase. For instance, I removed the license plate frame that advertised the dealer I bought the car from. The car itself cannot be disguised, but if it could, I would. I buy mostly generic foods, thus no need to remove can labels, or such. However, I do have several soda can holders which I, myself, have designed, to place the soda cans in. As you are aware of the lengths companies go to advertise their goods, so I am aware of how to avoid passing along their free advertising.

I also package my carry out groceries in my own homemade recycle grocery bags, rather than purchase the ones that have advertising on them, unless they are given out free, then I will gladly carry them.

I only go to such lengths to avoid being a free advertising billboard for products I am using in public. Those that I might have in the privacy of my own home, no need.

because they are way too obsessed with getting everything right?

“because [characters] teach kids good things and are good for them”

Do you have any proof to support this? Or is it just intuition? Because intuition is one of the biggest things that varies from people to people.

I am of the opinion that most of these characters are shallow pointless things aimed to entertain children and entice them into buying toys featuring the characters. They are merchandise vehicles, plain and simple. It would be easy to argue how watching these characters and buying toys featuring them seeds the behaviour of consumerism into children. As a person who detests consumerism, it’s obvious and apparent to me why a parent would discourage the existence of such characters in their house.

As for why they have selected only those two exceptions, who knows. Without them though, the child would have no mass produced character to relate with, which would make it harder for them to relate with the majority of children who do see these characters regularly. So I see it as being compassionate to the needs of the child but attempting to dissuade them from the mainstream push towards consumerism.

Why would I cross out the logo on a can of drink that will be put in the recycling bin within a few minutes? And who on earth would actually think taking labels off of canned food would be beneficial? Do you like eating random cans of food? You are stretching quite a lot with your analogy here and it doesn’t really benefit you.

@DominicX you are right
@dynamicduo It just seems like such a waste of valuable time to worry about such small things, people need to just relax and let people be and learn, by not letting them see characters we are not allowing them to have a chance to learn what they like on their own.
@lynneblundell Very good answer, they are and need to relax

@dynamicduo

Consumerism is all around this country and this world. You can’t prevent children from being exposed to it forever. There are many other products that children might want that may have nothing to do with Disney or any other “theme” like that. Most kids are going to want toys of some sort.

Thank God I grew up in the ‘90s when no one gave a shit about things like this. I don’t even remember asking for Disney stuff; it was my parents who decided on a “theme”. Everything (like bedding, decorations, some toys, stuff like that) I had as a very young child was Disney-themed and then I kind of grew out of it and became interested in other things. It was only the movies that I wanted to see after that. Movies that I still like to this day (some).

@justus2 actually it’s the parents that only expose their kids to the usual sesame street then disney then nickelodeon pathway are the ones that don’t expose them to many other things – and all their kids exist in this same similar bubble so my not exposing by kids to this programming and by, for example, exposing them to Russian cartoons and some other random stuff (not that I think about it, we don’t have time to watch TV and neither do our children), I’m making them aware of other options and they are therefore much more interesting people and oh I do worry about ‘bigger things in life’ – much more than one might imagine

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Exactly and what I am saying is to not not expose them to stuff that you don’t like, but expose them to it all and let them decide what they like best

@DominicX You can if you choose to not have kids ;)

@dynamicduo

For some reason, I thought you said you were a parent. I do plan on having kids and I don’t plan on shielding them for those kinds of things. But I also don’t plan on getting them everything they ask for, in the same way my parents acted. I don’t even remember getting stuff outside of Christmas and my birthday when I was little.

If I had a daughter, she would not have Hannah Montana anything. My boys don’t watch the teen/tween disney shows. Those shows are just a little weird, the Jonas stuff with the Suite Life, etc. I do agree on Caillou, it is too annoying to be in the same room with. My kids just run and play most of the time till they collapse.

@MrBr00ks

What if you had a teenage son who liked Hannah Montana?

/may or may not be based on a true story.

I would smack him, and tell him she has rabies.

Well, I love HM and I’m 17 and male. So does my straight friend who plays lacrosse. Hi-yo.

She just doesn’t seem like a shining example of what a woman should be, either irl or on the show. That’s all. Plus, I hate her dad, go Listen to “Achy Breaky Heart” and you will too.

lol…my parents always talk about how that song sucks. It was on “Kidsongs” and I remember it from when I was little, but they had changed the lyrics to be less violent.

heh, plus the song incited riots. True story.

http://www.newint.org/issue308/dolls.html