Bubble Guppies Bring Ballet for All

In our house, the Bubble Guppies are the babes absolute favorite when it comes to television shows.  We have them set to DVR automatically, and have built up a collection of about 40 episodes to access them whenever we need a quick distraction.

And while I do acknowledge that the APA recommends no screen time for those under two, in a house of twin chaos, Mama needs every tool in the tool box to keep it all together.

They sing, they dance, they "line up," have lunch play pretend and all along the way, teach some lesson about every day life.  Emergency workers, trucks, dinosaurs, hair cuts, Egypt, bugs, recycling, and circuses have all been the featured topic of Bubble Guppies episodes.  And I do love these little guys - but for more than the few moments of peace they offer me each day.

Today's episode was titled Super Ballet Bowl and I have to say, I was totally impressed.

Let me back up a bit.  For me, gender equality is a huge deal.  In school I was blessed to have incredible professors who challenged me to consider what I'd been taught by our society about what it is to be a woman, and what I expect of our male counterparts.  This social programming begins within moments of our birth, girls dressed in pink and boys in blue.  Toys and clothes are categorized into those for "girls" and "boys."  And as the children grow to adults, studies show that many are funneled into classes and careers that our society deems to be appropriate for their gender.

As a mom of "girl/boy twins" this label can be particularly sticky, becoming an intrinsic part of their identities and how I relate to them as my children.  Julie is my girl - Brayden is my boy.  It defines them despite my best efforts.

So when I saw the title of today's episode, Super Ballet Bowl, it sparked my curiosity. With a classroom of three boys and three girls, how would the guppies handle this potential gender pitfall?  Would they fall into the current trend - where it's okay for girls to participate in activities culturally and traditionally reserved for boys (like sports and science), but deny boys the opportunity to step into the realm of the creative arts - traditionally held by females?

I am so glad to share that they handled it with ease:

I have to give my deepest commendations to Nickelodeon and to the writers of the Bubble Guppies for going there.  They gave little boys the freedom to do whatever they want - including dance.

It got me to thinking what a fabulous job this show is doing in supporting non-traditional roles - we have a male teacher (Mr. Grouper), a female Mayor of Big Bubble City, female construction workers and police.

In our house, it's Brayden we see moving his feet and bopping his head to the music.  And when the time comes for Julie to start toddler ballet classes, he'll be there right beside her - just as she will be beside him when T-Ball begins.  The world will put it's own shadows of cultural gender identity on my children soon enough, but I'm glad that today, they were offered equality.