I cannot stand the Berenstain Bears, and not just because whenever I see the name "Berenstain," I always automatically focus on the "stain" part. The Berenstain Bears are altogether too wholesome for my tastes, too filled to the brim with the worst sort of family values. Heaven forbid Brother Bear ever comes out of the closet -- I just don't know what Mama and Papa will do!
We have none of their books. I usually turn off Sprout the minute they show up, but somehow they managed to stay on for longer than usual a few nights ago. The episode (probably based on this book) was all about how Mama Bear (who has no name other than Mama) has decided to open a quilt shop -- gasp! The family is in disarray! Mama Bear wants to work outside the home! Sister Bear declares without hesitation that she doesn't like it, and that she's opposed to change. Who will feed her and launder her clothes and wipe her nose? Mama patiently and kindly explains that sometimes Mamas have jobs, just like Papas, and that this means the rest of the family will have to chip in around the house.
Let me share with you the reasons I'm offended by this (as if I need to):
1. I can't believe they think they need to even address the idea of mothers working outside the home as a shocking and controversial topic. Is this not the 21st century? Are the Berenstain Bears wholly unaware of the feminist movement?
2. The rest of the family should be chipping in with the housework anyway. As I've learned over the last 21 months, stay-at-home moms have their hands full. Maintaining the household is the job of everyone who lives in the house.
I confess: I did not see the end of the episode, so I don't know how things fared for Mama Bear's foray into the work world. I imagine the quilt shop was a terrible disaster and Mama realized the error of her ways -- Mamas should stay home, cook dinner, wash clothes, care for the cubs, and maybe mix Papa the occasional martini. Silly Mama! But I can't tell you that for sure.
I can tell you that we won't be watching any more Berenstain Bears.
New World Order update: Our rough week stretches into a rough fortnight. (Which perhaps explains why I'm feeling so curmudgeonly.) The girls have decided to start napping again, but only after much daily struggle, and only for about a quarter as long as they used to. They are still extremely grumpy for most of the day. Good times, good times.
8 comments:
I haven't seen the Berenstain Bears, nor have I read the books, but I think they've been around for a long time.
In my generation values changed from "A woman's place is in the home," to "A woman needs to work a full-time job and still do everything at home."
Your generation is handling this situation better.
Every family has to decide what is best for itsown particular circumstances. I stayed home when you guys were little because I had no marketable skills that would land me a job that would pay me enough to pay for day care.
Consquently, I canned food and sewed almost all your clothes.
There were many times when people were puzzled, even offended by the fact that I didn't "work."
Evie & Sophie don't need stereotypes, and I'm glad they have a mommy and daddy who will see to it that the girls can grow up and make they're own decisions based on what is best for them.
Good luck.
This battle should have been over with ages ago.
I never liked them either because the papa bear was so darn irritating, condescending and stupid. Never liked them. My kids do and I don't know why--and they also loved Curious George which also isn't big on my list. Dumb monkey always causes trouble and then gets off the hook.
I don't think of my decision to leave work to raise my children as a sacrifice. I just took an early retirement.
And the Berenstain Bears don't bother me as much as other cartoons, i.e. the ones marketed for older kids that should be for adults. But I digress (you like how I inserted your blog name in there?)However, I understand your frustration at the stereotypical mother.
perhaps it's my disdain for the fact that brother and sister bear come off rather weak, or that they have no actual names or the sound of the show starting just grates my nerves, but i abhor the berenstain bears. naturally, this means the youngest loves them.
my thought, based on having to hear the show play out regularly, is that mama bear ditched the quilt thing fast, convinced that foolish and not very organized father bear to take her to the cave and they soon introduced a baby bear.
as for other cartoons, the stations were being flipped tonight and the end of spongebob that filtered in included the classic line "come back here and kill each other!"
delightful. just perfectly delightful.
I could go n for hours on the crap that is offered up as children's programming. The afore mentioned bears (I am too lazy to try and spell it correctly) have never been high on my list. I have always found them to be vapid and boring. But then what do I know, My favorite as a kid was Speed Racer.
Mind you, I don't think there's anything in the world wrong with mothers staying home with their kids. That's what I'm doing, after all. I just don't like the way the Berenstain Bears handled working moms, as if it's shocking and abnormal. There are all different kinds of families and all different kinds of moms. Let's not make it even harder on moms who chose (or are forced) to work in addition to having a family by treating that decision like it's something they have to justify.
I think I realized what it is about this that really bothers me: It's that they make a big deal about Mama's new job, instead of just accepting it as normal.
The twins were just watching Angelina Ballerina (yes, I know they watch too much TV, but they're sick, so they get to do whatever they want). In this episode, Angelina pretends to be a boy so she can play hockey. In the end, she proves that girls can be just as good at hockey as boys, and she closes by saying, "Maybe I'll run for president! After all, why can't a girl run for president?" Here's my thought: Don't make a big deal about it! Show girls playing hockey. Show girls running for president. But don't make it controversial -- don't give the kids watching a chance to think, "Hmm. Are there people who think girls should do these things? And if so, why not?" Just don't go there! Take the equality between girls and boys for granted, and then maybe the kids will grow up thinking that way.
Am I naive to think that women's rights have progress enough for this to work? Maybe. But I choose to believe that if we teach kids about gender equality without making a fuss about it, kids will growing thinking it's no big deal for a woman to run for president or a man to stay home and take care of the kids. Which is what we want them to think!!
Kelly, I think it is still a good ol' boys world, unfortunately. But, I agree that it would be a great idea. I am lucky having a boy and girl at the same time--there are only toys, not boy toys and girl toys, just toys. It's a start.
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