That boys have penis and girls vagina shouldn't be any secret. But it seems that if some cartoons show this topic to young children, the controversy is served. This is a Swedish program for children that has produced a video to talk about sexuality.
Some issues that arise in the thread of controversy: is sexual education an exclusive area of the family? To what extent can cartoons serve to teach children certain concepts? I don't know what you think of the video that appears below, but I think that being scandalized by some drawings like these is excessive.
In them we see dancing to the sound of an animated song to "Willie and Twinkle, what a great gang!", a penis and a cartoon vagina (simplified and personified, with eyes, mustache, glasses ...) that will appear in the educational program "Barnkanalen", something similar in Sweden to "Sesame Street", aimed at children between three and six years.
The video has millions of reproductions and that at first YouTube classified it as adults, until the television network intervened to explain that there was no "explicit" content and that it was aimed at children. Here we leave the images in a version with English subtitles.
Yes, there have been parents who consider offensive drawings, which interfere in the educational role of the family. It seems to me that part of the controversy comes from that there are people for whom sexuality is a taboo subject And they don't talk to their children. Young children don't have to know that there are differences between boys and girls, without being ashamed of it? Who better than parents to teach him on that subject?
But I don't even think it’s exclusive family information, also the school touches the subject, it appears in textbooks, in projects about the human body, animals ... They see it in nature, they see it in their little brothers ... what is the point of hiding it?
Personally I prefer that my daughters know these differences as something natural before taking a "surprise" at school or in any children's space. I prefer that they have clear, at their level, the physical differences between boys and girls and in addition the boys are very curious and at any time they can ask us about it. Is there anything to hide? Why were we going to lie to them?
These cartoons seem quite innocuous and innocent, even funny, I do not think they are offensive. I don't know if they are necessary for most children, because I want to believe that most families talk to their children about these differences. Why would such families seem obscene or offensive to such drawings?
There is the question, which makes me think that the controversy is given because that different nature is not commented at home and therefore is a taboo subject. So, I would worry that some cartoons (which eye, I should be supervising) reach my children telling them things that I don't feel like they know yet.
Controversy for all tastes
There are those who have gone further and points out that the drawings are not fortunate, but for other reasons. They appear as a couple "go duo" boy-girl and do not give options to other types of couples. And, already put, that the fact that they match all penises and all vaginas, without showing different sizes and colors, is discriminatory and not inclusive.
In this sense, it has also been pointed out that penises always appear erect and that there is a certain topic when showing calm ladies and more "wild" gentlemen.
But do not forget that it is not about giving a master class to our children, or advanced biology, or sexual orientation ... but to offer some basic brushstrokes about the differences between boys and girls. Something that, as we have been saying, is not secret or shameful.
Are things by their name
Boys have penis, girls vagina. It is most natural. You can give them a thousand names (and this goes for another topic) and explain it in many ways, without the need for rudeness, without the need to be explicit, the little ones have to know.
As they should know that they are their parts and only yours, that they should not let them touch them and the rest of the information that will serve them for their safety, to avoid sexual abuse.
Otherwise, traumas come and maybe in the future, when talking about it, they will feel uncomfortable, be ashamed or ridiculed something that is natural.
Maybe, in the future, they will not accept some drawings like those of the genital dancers and the reasons given for this can be very diverse. The case is to perpetuate the taboo and misinformation.
Video | Youtube
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