Cross Dressing on Rugrats... what?!?!?!?!!

[Amy R Lynn]

So my two boys (6yr and 8yr) and I are watching Netflix. My youngest son decides to watch Rugrats. The episode was called the Duckie Clan. In this episode two of the boy babies are trying to figure out why its ok for the girls to wear what ever clothes they want, but the boys can't wear a dress. So they decide that they are going to wear dresses. They eventually end up in the park and find some other male babies to play with. The male babies think they are girls since they are wearing dresses and start giving them things like candy. Of course the Rugat babies think this is great and keep up the show and pretend they are girls. Eventually their new friends find out that they are boys wearing dresses and start to go after them to figght with them. In the end they are saved by a group of Scottish babies that think they are part of the Duckie Clan (since one of their dresses has ducks on it). The Scottish babies fend off the boys that were trying to beat the Rugrats up. The parents end up finding them and think its great that they wanted to play in dresses.

I was actually suprised to see a childerens show like this adressing this issue. So I got to have a nice talk with my kids about what they thought. Whether they thought it was ok for them to wear dresses, and if the other babies were mean. My oldest son said that he didn't think the other babies should have wanted to beat them up because they were just wearing a dress. They weren't hurting anyone....

That brought a smile to my face. It let me know that I'm guiding them in the right direction. I do my best to not let them judge people based on how they look, dress, or present themselves. I try to teach them that its the actions that people take that really define who they are.

[Tracii G]

Kids you have to give them credit for being open.

[Leah Lynn]

I would say that you're doing something right. Congratulations!

[carriecatgirl]

I ll have to definately check into that I have a two year old maybe a good way when she is a tad older to broach the subject of other types of people. )

[Amanda_P]

I think it's great. Kids never judge you or what you do. They just want to make friends and play. Not until we grow up that we start doing that. I tryed to raise my kids that way and most of them are still like that.

[Rachel Flowers]

Rugrats isn't about babies it's a metaphor for adult relationships in society.

Real children get it - dressing up is fun and makes you feel good. it enables you to explore various role and different sides of yourself. Only as they get older do they buy the brainwashing that boys dress and act one way and girls another.

[Cynthia Anne]

Good for you Amy! Keep up what you are doing! It makes the world a better place!
btw; I was just a ''rugrat'' when I started dressing!!!!

[STACY B]

UK,,OH,,, Ya better not say to much,,LOL,,, That will be the next thing Parents ban there kids from watching ,,,LOL,,,, Yall know how they are !

[Amy R Lynn]

Actually I went out to the Net to see if anyone had made any reviews on that episode. I couldn't find any that cast a bad light on it. The one said that Rugrats promotes feminisim though. That's about it. I fully expected to find a conservative outlook that would think this was horrible. Either they didn't see it, or just didn't care enough to write a review about it. But either way, I'm glad to see that there are some shows out there that will help our childeren know about acceptance.

[STACY B]

Hell BUGS BUNNY has done it for years !! An alot of others ,,,But some folks are just STUPID ,,,You know !!!!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Amy, Maybe it's the changing times.

[JamieG]

Cool! I've always kind of written off Rugrats, but this is definitely a point in their favor.

[Beverley Sims]

I have seen similar situations where the director or some of the production team are gay.
It is a gentle way to promote their thinking.

[Mikaela]

There's also a lot of it on Pokemon.

[sterling12]

The LGBT Community has a way better than average presence among people involved with The Arts and Media. So, I'm not real surprised when one of our "Subversive" Sister's gets A gentle message inserted into content. It Ain't easy to slip it through management, The Legal Department, Censors, or The Religious Crazies, but it does happen. And lately, it seems like there might be some Tacit Support!

A Gay or Transgendered Cartoonist, or Script Writer? What a Surprise......NOT!

But, I guess the most important aspect is whether or not The Message is getting through to The Rest of The World? Jury is still out on that one. We will let you know in about ten to fifteen years, when these kids grow up. Let's just see if they can do better than previous generations.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[Jorja]

Rugrats is well known for taking on serious subjects in our society. Many parents won't or do not know how to talk about such subjects with their children. It is a shame that a cartoon has to do it for them but at least the kids are learning about it early.

[Miriam-J]

I used to watch a lot of Rugrats, when my son was considerably younger than his current twenty years. I seem to remember a cross-dressing episode in the early years, but a bit subtler. Twins Lil (girl) and Phil (boy) fooled the parents by putting Lil's pink ribbon on Phil - the only difference in their appearance. Does this count too? Don't remember the anti-CD community getting too hot about that one.

Miriam

[Bree-asaurus]

Kids you have to give them credit for being open.

Kids learn what we teach them. My boyfriend's and my nieces and nephews are all totally cool with whatever. They had good parents that taught them to accept people for who they are. But the other kids at school aren't always taught the same things... some of them are taught to be grossed out by or hate such things.

[STACY B]

You got that right ,,My grand daughters love to go an get there nails done with me ,, They say I am going to get some pretty's on my toes ,,LOL,,,

[Bree-asaurus]

You got that right ,,My grand daughters love to go an get there nails done with me ,, They say I am going to get some pretty's on my toes ,,LOL,,,

I have pretties on my toes! Thankfully they grow slower than my fingernails so I can forget about it for a while :P

[Miriam-J]

Kids learn what we teach them. My boyfriend's and my nieces and nephews are all totally cool with whatever. They had good parents that taught them to accept people for who they are. But the other kids at school aren't always taught the same things... some of them are taught to be grossed out by or hate such things.

Indeed, you have to teach hate when your children are young and continue to reinforce it for years. Same is true with racism and religious bigotry. To many, there are few things more important than clearly distinguishing between the good (conveniently, always "us") and the bad (whichever of "them" we choose). Our society has improved in the last fifty years, but still has a ways to go.

Miriam

[Amy R Lynn]

We're not out of the woods as far as acceptance goes. I don't forsee society ever being 100% accepting. There will always be someone that will make a stink about it. But cartoons like this that reinforce the message of accepting people for who they are, wll certainly help.

The older generations really seem to fear anything out of the norm and are far less willing to accept change. I know of an older couple that are very nice and kind hearted except for their view on Racism. They don't trust anyone that is not caucasion white folk. However, their childeren are very accepting. Their son has dated women of other ethnicity's and has no problem with any other race. He is very much against any kind of racism or disrimination, and is very acceptng of everyone! So people can c6hange, even if parents raise them not to. Its going to take time, but things are getting better for everyone out there.

[Nicole Erin]

UK,,OH,,, Ya better not say to much,,LOL,,, That will be the next thing Parents ban there kids from watching ,,,LOL,,,, Yall know how they are !

Well, keep in mind each generation gets more open. Let us assume most new parents (have kids preschool age or younger) today are late teens to late 20's. I would throw out a figure and say probably 1/2 of them are not going to see GLBT as a big deal.
For too many years, hatred of anything or anyone "different" has caused problems and the world is sick of it. These days, it is the bigots who are looked down on. THEY have become the judged minority.

[bridget thronton]

I am we see an end to all intolerence some day