Katy Perry filmed a music video duet with Elmo as part of Sesame Street's 41st season. This seems like a natural choice to me. Katy Perry is youthful and whimsical, she has a pretty singing voice, and the face of a Disney princess. Just look at those eyes!
Check out the rack on Ariel! Sorry, I got distracted. Anyways, during this two minute video, a spoof of Katy's song "Hot n Cold", she wears this dress that looks about as provocative as something you'd see at Smuckers Stars on Ice:
Cries of "Escandalo!" echoed through the blogosphere. Since Sesame Street is not in the business of creating controversy or angering parents, they made the decision not to air the segment.
What do Katy Perry, Ariel, Sasha Cohen, and your mom have in common? They have breasts. Preschoolers see cleavage, decollete, chests, whatever you want to call it, everyday. Unless of course, they have two daddies instead of a mommy. Robinson is staring at my boobies right now.
Yes, Katy's chest and legs are visible in this video. What we don't see is her body being displayed in a sexual context. I've already blogged once this week about sexuality, age appropriateness, and the slutification* of America's children, even I am surprised that this video has created such controversy. Sesame Street has been on the air for over 40 years. Obviously the producers of this award-winning, well-respected American institution didn't find Katy's outfit too risque. I consider myself to err on the side of conservatism when it comes to the parenting choices I will make in the future, and having viewed this video I can say without hesitation that I would have no objections to allowing Rob to watch it. Where do I draw the line, you ask?
Right there.
Are we now to believe that a woman's body can be viewed as nothing more than a sexual object? Katy has to cover up so as not to be "sexy"? Personally, I think that the parents who complained are just a bunch of jealous haters who resent Katy and her lovely figure and they are projecting their own feelings about Katy Perry's sexual magnetism. This is America, and as long as women and mothers wear swimsuits, sports bras and tank tops in front of their children, children will continue to see cleavage.
All that being said, parents have the right to choose what is appropriate for their child to view. I'd like to offer up a solution so that Katy Perry can re-shoot her Elmo video without creating a firestorm of controversy:
"Samantha, did you just crudely photoshop Katy Perry's head on a poncho?" Why yes I did, gentle reader. Now Katy has been reduced to nothing more than a limbless torso that is fully concealed. Hopefully that won't violate the delicate moral code of America's parents.
*I just made that word up. It is the act of turning one slutty.
Samantha I agree with you MOSTLY. I will say that this has been blown WAY out of proportion. However I do think she could have made a wiser more appropriate wardrobe decision. The video doesn't offend or bother me but I will say I wouldn't wear a dress like that going out with the girls much less on a children's program. I just think it was a poor clothing choice for this program but once again it isn't that big of a deal. I think as a parent if I had seen it on tv I probably just would have thought "that is an interesting semi-inappropriate clothing choice" and moved on.
ReplyDelete@Sarah Beth: you bring up a great point. She could have made a better choice. Stylistically (is that a word?) there isn't much that Katy wears that I like. The costume is a surprising choice, not only because it's borderline inappropriate, but because it isn't very pretty or flattering.
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