Much Ado About Parenting: May 2016

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

Equality in Disney: a long way to go.

Recently I read an article about a campaign to get Elsa a girlfriend in Frozen 2. Now, if you're wondering what I'm taking about, Elsa is the flaxen haired protagonist of the popular Disney film 'Frozen.' Immediately, I agreed with this campaign to bring gay characters into mainstream children''s and family entertainment. Why not? I have friends who are gay...gay people exist and live their lives outside of the shadows, which seems to shock some.

Firstly, why shouldn't children and young people of all sexualities see themselves, or versions of themselves on film. When a 10 year old looks all around and sees no one 'nornal' like them, I can only imagine it's pretty isolating. Being gay is not odd, alternative or unusual. It just is.

Secondly, how about children with two Mums or two Dads? Are they never to see a love story which reminds them of their own family? Furthermore, perhaps the parents themselves want to see a familiar happy ever after.

Next, on a personal level, what if my own son is gay? I want him to grow up knowing that he is 100% normal, beautiful and not a weirdo. I would want him to see society changing to be as accepting as his family are.

Finally, even if your kid isn't gay, why the fuck shouldn't they see a lesbian princess or a gay knight? I certainly don't want my son growing up thinking that Beauty and the Beast areally the only relationship out there. We regularly talk about how every family is unique: for Ethan this means living with Mummy (plus John shortly), staying with Daddy and spending lots of time with his wonderful Nanny. For his nursery friend, this means living with two Mummies. For another friend, this means living with Mummy and Daddy. It's all bloody family; get over yourself.

A while back, I bumped into Ethan's nursery teacher in a local gay bar. He is gay and was there with his boyfriend and friends. We spent the night talking, in between dancing, about how much I love that Ethan has a gay male nursery teacher. Not only is this a male role model in a stereotypically viewed female job, this is a gay man. Every liberal, free spirited mother's dream! In talking, I found that this particular teacher has had parents ask that he does not change their babies nappies because of his sexuality. This brings me to tears. I can't even comprehend that this attitude still exists. The teacher and his boyfriend were surprised and moved by my passionate defense of gay equality, particularly in reference to education. This is flattering but sad: is it really so shocking?

To clarify, I am not writing about sex here. This is not about who someone does or does not sleep with. This is about raising our children in a word free of hate, free of prejudice and free of ignorance.