#inclusive

[NOT SO RANDOM PRIDE FLAGS: STAMPS]

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me-core,, i'm collecting flags i swear. happy pride everyone!

MY OTHER PRIDE GRAPHICS:

lesbian stamps

bisexual stamps and blinkies

Now, of course I knew that the show was progressive; it's a show devoted to children's education, and most shows of that persuasion are, to some degree, inclusive and progressive, assuming they're practicing what they preach. Sesame Street, more specifically Elmo's World (my daughter's favorite), is on another level, though.

First off, Michael Jeter is a regular on the show, portraying Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle. Jeter was openly gay and HIV positive, and I should not need to explain why these two things are astounding. Yes, he was a decorated actor, but for an HIV positive gay man to be a main character on a children's show is, to my knowledge, unheard of in the years 2000-2003, when he died.

Second, they are deliberate in their racial representation. Sesame Street skits that my mother watched on television as a little girl have a mix of skin colors in the children who are shown and drawn. White people are not presented as the norm, and social harmony between races is preached on the regular ("That's About the Size of It" comes to mind). On Elmo's World, there's a segment in the Families episode that details the rituals and traditions of an Asian (probably, but not certainly, Chinese) family gathering. The little girl in the segment details what is happening and why in an informative way, and it's presented matter-of-factly rather than as a novelty.

Speaking of the children, I can't say with certainty that every episode of Elmo's World includes a child with a disability, but if not, it's damn close. Children in wheelchairs and speaking sign language are incredibly common, and the only mention of their disability is when a narrating child mentions that their friend has a special way of talking with their hands. Note that none of the episodes are "about" disability or sign language. The one I can remember off the top of my head is an episode about wild animals where one of the children going to the zoo speaks in sign (and they teach the narrating child how to sign the names of various animals, it's very sweet). Disabled children are not limited to being showpieces, either; the episode about Dancing has a segment where various children show off how they dance, and one of them is in a wheelchair.

I'd like to take a moment to remind you that most of the Elmo's World episodes we're watching were released between 2000 and 2013, if not even earlier (some do not have a marked date easily visible).

The thing that made me write this post, though, is the episode about singing. It's off a 2000 VHS, and has a segment where a muppet opera singer tells Elmo that there are lots of other types of singing, like Rock and Roll singing (cut to a video of Elmo dressed as Elvis and singing "Blue Suede Shoes") and Rap singing (cut to Elmo dressed as a mildly stereotypical 2000 rapper "rapping" about Elmo's World). I've watched this episode with my daughter more than a dozen times, but it just clicked today that Elmo was trying to enfranchise rap in the year 2000. Rap still struggles to be accepted as actual music today, much less twenty six years ago, and there's no question that that struggle is rooted in racism.

Once again GREAT inclusive fashion by designer Kei Hirabayashi.

Happy pride to everyone who is questioning their identity. Happy pride to everyone celebrating their first pride this year. Happy pride to people who can't or won't celebrate pride with any activities. Happy pride to everyone who came before us. Happy pride to every ally.