The Peppa Pig Sexism Controversy

Being a famous celebrity means always being in the public eye, always being vulnerable to controversy and negative reactions from your audience. This is especially true no matter what, even if you’re a two-dimensional cartoon pig. Peppa Pig, the adorable star of the British children’s show with the same name, had to learn the hard way when a dark clip from her past surfaced over the weekend.

According to Telegraph, the London Fire Brigade called out Peppa Pig for a 2009 episode of the famous program, in which the narrator says “Mummy Pig’s dressed as a fireman.” Instead of using this chance as a teaching moment, Peppa replies by snorting and saying “Mummy!”

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The London Fire Brigade aired their frustration in a Twitter post that read: “Come on @peppapig, we’ve not been a fireman for 30 years. You have a huge influence on kids & using out of date stereotypical gender-specific wording prevents young girls from becoming firefighters.

Join our #Firefightingsexism campaign.” At a very young age of 4, this is Peppa’s first brush with controversy, who’s also been bashed for not wearing a seat belt. That said, is she going to get removed this time? Is this a scandal especially curated to get Piers Morgan rock tough with outrage? And, oy, wots all this about? We do hope Peppa Pig learns from this little controversy!

The Wisdom Segment

I From time to time, point out to your children the advantages of being able to read. Choose things that have immediate value to them. Do not stress that reading will enable them to get good grades or go to college or get a good job. Young children are not ready for such considerations.

II Street signs have meaning because they are part of childrens everyday world. Introduce them to STOP signs. Explain that this sign means drivers must stop their cars. What could happen if a driver could not read the sign? Do people who ride bikes also have to be able to read this sign? Why? Its important that your child understands this so they will better gauge the importance of reading in day-to-day life.

III Let children see that knowing how to read enables you to find out the prices of merchandise in stores, the contents of cans and bottles, and the flavors of ice-cream that are available. In restaurants, you can learn what dishes are on the menu, and which containers hold salt and pepper. At the zoo, you can learn the names of animals by reading signs.

IV Reading is also fun. It enables people to enjoy books and newspapers, including comics. Read comic strips to your children. They are good for learning to read from left to right. Look for odd and amusing news items to share with them a circus elephant story, a picture and caption about a cat that has to be rescued, people bathing in the icy ocean on January first, and the like.

V Help your children make a list of things family members read in one day. Do not forget mail, posters in stores, medicine containers, text on the TV screen. And if you are allowing your kids to use gadgets, you can also consider these on your list as well. The broader the spectrum, the better it will be for your childs desire to learn how to read.

VI Children must learn that there are 26 letters in the alphabet and that our words are made up of these letters. There is a time-honored way to teach letters one at a time. Once children recognize a letter, they will start to look for it everywhere. Make looking for letters a game: lets find ten boxes in the store that have the letter S on them. Circle ten Ss in the newspaper. Circle ten words in the newspaper that begin with S.

The Peppa Pig Sexism Controversy

The Wisdom Segment

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