4 ms·

Ok some examples: 1. Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot. In fact, there are no positive male figures in the whole show. Check sexism. 2. All of the animals

Ok some examples: 1. Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot. In fact, there are no positive male figures in the whole show. Check sexism. 2. All of the animals are married to animals of the same type: there are no "inter-racial" marriages. It is also full of racial stereotypes. Check racism 3. The only person in the show who seems to work, Mrs Rabbit, has several jobs that she does badly (perhaps due to exhaustion) and speaks with a working class English accent (while all of the other characters have upper/middle class accents). Check classism. 4. It heavily promotes the British royal family, especially in the recent movie. Check elitism. Unless you want to fill your kids full of prejudice from an early age, avoid.

jon-wood 9y ago
I feel silly nitpicking critiques of Peppa Pig, but it's Miss Rabbit who has to work constantly to sustain herself. Mrs Rabbit (her twin sister) lives in a comfortable heteronomative relationship with Mr Rabbit, who works to support both her and their many children.
jamespo 9y ago
Re: point 1 - George is a polymath who immediately masters anything he turns his hand to
pmyteh 9y ago
Doctor Brown Bear is a positive male role model, TFA notwithstanding. As is Granddad Dog, IMO. And there are other workers who are less of the exploited proletariat than Miss Rabbit - Daddy Pig works as some kind of architect/structural engineer, Madam Gazelle runs the playgroup and so on. But yes, its class relations in particular is dodgy. Not as bad as Thomas the Tank Engine, though. Don't get me started on that.
- jon-wood 9y ago
  Thomas the Tank Engine is terrifying. Its the protestant work ethic turned into a totalitarian regime led by the The Fat Controller. You're either a Really Useful Engine or you're going to the scrapheap, so you'd better hope you don't get on the Controller's bad side.
jmmcd 9y ago
> Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot. I strongly disagree! It looks that way superficially, but he is highly resourceful and skilled. He's an engineer, a champion diver, and superb musician. In contrast, Mummy Pig is mostly a non-entity. > All of the animals are married to animals of the same type: there are no "inter-racial" marriages. Species ~ race is your own, silly, interpretation. > perhaps due to exhaustion Or because doing things badly is a core component of slapstick humour.
- alphadevx 9y ago
  > race is your own, silly, interpretation. Are you dismissing me as "silly Daddy" now? Sorry could not resist ;-)
jenscow 9y ago
1. There are "sensible" male characters, such as the Dr. (bonus: Doesn't promote male dominance). In fact, most adult characters aren't serious. That's one of the things that kids find funny. 2. Let's teach them realistic biology. They're difference species, how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? But the fact every species is friends with each other suggests it's ok to "mix". 3. Daddy pig goes to work, and what about the Doctor? There's a teacher, policeman, mechanic. (straw-man: you have differentiated class by accent) 4. I'm far from a royalist, but there's no harm in teaching about the royal family and our heritage. Disclaimer: I enjoyed watching Peppa Pig.
- alphadevx 9y ago
  > Let's teach them realistic biology. They're difference species, how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? Ok if we are going to run with that very tenuous argument, how come there are animals walking around on two legs, wearing clothes, talking to each other? Clearly the lesson for kids is not biology, it's "people" (an analogy thereof in this instance) of the same "type" marry each other exclusively. > you have differentiated class by accent No, the show makers have. Either this was a deliberate decision or a mistake. > but there's no harm in teaching about the royal family and our heritage I might agree to that if the kids watching were British, but this show is widely exported, so in my case not my heritage (or thankfully my kids).
- kgwgk 9y ago
  > how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? Maybe they could adopt (a panda bear, for example). Suggesting that marriage is related to reproduction is highly offensive to many people.
  - jon-wood 9y ago
    If you're a fan of that concept you should watch some Hey Duggee (you should watch some anyway, it's a masterpiece of children's TV), in which a crocodile character is adopted judging by his elephant parents. The really beautiful thing is that this is never mentioned explicitly, he just has elephant parents, and that's fine.
ianhowson 9y ago
This is the funniest thing I've read all day. Let's dive in: > Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot And yet he is loved by his family. He makes mistakes but also has many successes. It's probably his pride which is made fun of; he thinks of himself as amazing and perfect and yet makes mistakes, which are humorous in that context. > All of the animals are married to animals of the same type They sure are. I'm not sure why this is racist (but feel free to educate me at length). The target audience is two-year-olds, after all. Come to think of it, I don't know that they're even married. Adult relationships aren't touched at all. Perhaps they're cohabiting but divorced due to London property prices. > The only person in the show who seems to work, Mrs Rabbit, Except for Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig, various workers at Daddy Pig's office, Mr Bull & friends, teachers, police etc etc. "Friends" doesn't focus on the working lives of the main characters for the obvious reason that it's boring. Mrs Rabbit doesn't seem exhausted (except as the explicit topic of one episode); it's more a Homer Simpson thing where it's funny that she does so many different jobs. Accents are definitely racist though. Let Sarah Ann Kennedy know that she is a bad person. > It heavily promotes the British royal family It's a British show; why would you expect anything else? Here's my gripe: animals never eat animals. It's always corn or carrots. Now, in a multi-racial society filled with animals of different needs, how does one get enough protein? I'm sure Mr. Bull has a little rabbit cage in his basement with a forced breeding program, his dark secret. We could explore it over the course of three episodes, as he is slowly outed and blackmailed by his friends. It culminates in an electric chair scene where he screams "Let's DIG UP THE ROOOOOAD!<zap>". Then everyone has meat for dinner.
- alphadevx 9y ago
  > Accents are definitely racist though. I clearly said classist. > It's a British show; why would you expect anything else? I was expecting a childrens show, not a reinforcement of a world view that some people (royals) are better than others, just because they are born that way. So elitism. Not a positive message for kids, sorry if you disagree. Glad you found my post funny though, you should look at some of the other articles online criticizing this show, and remember this is your child's psychology at a very impressionable age being influenced. As a parent, I don't find that funny I take it very seriously.

jon-wood 9y ago

I feel silly nitpicking critiques of Peppa Pig, but it's Miss Rabbit who has to work constantly to sustain herself. Mrs Rabbit (her twin sister) lives in a comfortable heteronomative relationship with Mr Rabbit, who works to support both her and their many children.

jamespo 9y ago

Re: point 1 - George is a polymath who immediately masters anything he turns his hand to

pmyteh 9y ago

Doctor Brown Bear is a positive male role model, TFA notwithstanding. As is Granddad Dog, IMO. And there are other workers who are less of the exploited proletariat than Miss Rabbit - Daddy Pig works as some kind of architect/structural engineer, Madam Gazelle runs the playgroup and so on. But yes, its class relations in particular is dodgy. Not as bad as Thomas the Tank Engine, though. Don't get me started on that.

jon-wood 9y ago
Thomas the Tank Engine is terrifying. Its the protestant work ethic turned into a totalitarian regime led by the The Fat Controller. You're either a Really Useful Engine or you're going to the scrapheap, so you'd better hope you don't get on the Controller's bad side.

jmmcd 9y ago

> Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot. I strongly disagree! It looks that way superficially, but he is highly resourceful and skilled. He's an engineer, a champion diver, and superb musician. In contrast, Mummy Pig is mostly a non-entity. > All of the animals are married to animals of the same type: there are no "inter-racial" marriages. Species ~ race is your own, silly, interpretation. > perhaps due to exhaustion Or because doing things badly is a core component of slapstick humour.

alphadevx 9y ago
> race is your own, silly, interpretation. Are you dismissing me as "silly Daddy" now? Sorry could not resist ;-)

jenscow 9y ago

1. There are "sensible" male characters, such as the Dr. (bonus: Doesn't promote male dominance). In fact, most adult characters aren't serious. That's one of the things that kids find funny. 2. Let's teach them realistic biology. They're difference species, how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? But the fact every species is friends with each other suggests it's ok to "mix". 3. Daddy pig goes to work, and what about the Doctor? There's a teacher, policeman, mechanic. (straw-man: you have differentiated class by accent) 4. I'm far from a royalist, but there's no harm in teaching about the royal family and our heritage. Disclaimer: I enjoyed watching Peppa Pig.

alphadevx 9y ago
> Let's teach them realistic biology. They're difference species, how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? Ok if we are going to run with that very tenuous argument, how come there are animals walking around on two legs, wearing clothes, talking to each other? Clearly the lesson for kids is not biology, it's "people" (an analogy thereof in this instance) of the same "type" marry each other exclusively. > you have differentiated class by accent No, the show makers have. Either this was a deliberate decision or a mistake. > but there's no harm in teaching about the royal family and our heritage I might agree to that if the kids watching were British, but this show is widely exported, so in my case not my heritage (or thankfully my kids).
kgwgk 9y ago
> how could they possibly have rabbit and elephant parents - what would the child be? Maybe they could adopt (a panda bear, for example). Suggesting that marriage is related to reproduction is highly offensive to many people.
- jon-wood 9y ago
  If you're a fan of that concept you should watch some Hey Duggee (you should watch some anyway, it's a masterpiece of children's TV), in which a crocodile character is adopted judging by his elephant parents. The really beautiful thing is that this is never mentioned explicitly, he just has elephant parents, and that's fine.

ianhowson 9y ago

This is the funniest thing I've read all day. Let's dive in: > Daddy pig is portrayed as an idiot And yet he is loved by his family. He makes mistakes but also has many successes. It's probably his pride which is made fun of; he thinks of himself as amazing and perfect and yet makes mistakes, which are humorous in that context. > All of the animals are married to animals of the same type They sure are. I'm not sure why this is racist (but feel free to educate me at length). The target audience is two-year-olds, after all. Come to think of it, I don't know that they're even married. Adult relationships aren't touched at all. Perhaps they're cohabiting but divorced due to London property prices. > The only person in the show who seems to work, Mrs Rabbit, Except for Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig, various workers at Daddy Pig's office, Mr Bull & friends, teachers, police etc etc. "Friends" doesn't focus on the working lives of the main characters for the obvious reason that it's boring. Mrs Rabbit doesn't seem exhausted (except as the explicit topic of one episode); it's more a Homer Simpson thing where it's funny that she does so many different jobs. Accents are definitely racist though. Let Sarah Ann Kennedy know that she is a bad person. > It heavily promotes the British royal family It's a British show; why would you expect anything else? Here's my gripe: animals never eat animals. It's always corn or carrots. Now, in a multi-racial society filled with animals of different needs, how does one get enough protein? I'm sure Mr. Bull has a little rabbit cage in his basement with a forced breeding program, his dark secret. We could explore it over the course of three episodes, as he is slowly outed and blackmailed by his friends. It culminates in an electric chair scene where he screams "Let's DIG UP THE ROOOOOAD!<zap>". Then everyone has meat for dinner.

alphadevx 9y ago
> Accents are definitely racist though. I clearly said classist. > It's a British show; why would you expect anything else? I was expecting a childrens show, not a reinforcement of a world view that some people (royals) are better than others, just because they are born that way. So elitism. Not a positive message for kids, sorry if you disagree. Glad you found my post funny though, you should look at some of the other articles online criticizing this show, and remember this is your child's psychology at a very impressionable age being influenced. As a parent, I don't find that funny I take it very seriously.