Karley Cicale, FISM News
Fifty years ago, a man wearing a dress in entertainment was innocently written with the intention of eliciting a comic response from the audience. In modern television, however, it’s becoming less of a comedic bit and more of a means to normalize transgenderism and push the LGBTQ+ agenda. However, these messages are no longer isolated to adult programming, as it is now being plugged into children’s shows with the clear lesson being “you can be whoever you want to be”.
Muppet Babies on Disney Junior recently aired an episode entitled “Gonzo-rella,” in which Gonzo has the desire to go to the ball and wear a gown just like Miss Piggy and Summer. His “fairy-rat father” makes this wish come true. “I’d love to wear a dress like that to your royal ball,” he tells Miss Piggy, Summer, and Rizzo the Rat. Summer and Miss Piggy however, inform him that the girls wear dresses and the boys go as knights, according to the royal handbook. A dejected Gonzo is comforted by Rizzo, who exclaims that he is a “fairy-rat father” and can make his dream of wearing a “splenderific” dress come true. Gonzo then is “transformed” into a princess complete with glass sneakers, a mask, and a “hard-boiled convertible” to drive him to the ball.
There are many supporters of the episode arguing that the portrayal is innocent, and that Gonzo is simply enjoying wearing clothes he likes. Supporters of the show also claim that you can’t genderize a character that (in Muppet cannon) is an alien. Critics on the other hand are disturbed by the cultural message it is pushing on young children.
Candance Owens rebuked the episode saying “I can’t believe I’m tweeting this but.. they are pushing the trans agenda on children via muppet babies…This is sick and PERVERTED. Everyone should be disturbed by predatory cartoons meant to usher children into gender dysphoria.”
As defenders of the show have pointed out, Gonzo has donned female apparel in the past decades, whether it be in the name of art, in the name of fashion, or in the name of emulating Miss Piggy. He’s also dressed as Vanna White, Whistler’s Mother, and Cinderella’s Godmother. It’s also true that Muppet baby Gonzo has also worn dresses and tutus, as the Tooth Fairy, Carmen Miranda, and more.
So yes, it can’t be argued that for years, Gonzo has bucked traditional male clothing and jumped into costumes for entertainment without any pushback. However, it is the targeted messaging behind this episode that has parents concerned, not simply the fact that Gonzo wore a dress. Having Gonzo seem upset that he doesn’t fit in because he doesn’t fit the typical gender roles, is clearly different than him wearing a dress to imitate Miss Piggy.
“You all expected me to look a certain way,” Gonzo says to his friends in the episode. “I don’t want you to be upset with me, but I don’t want to do things because that’s the way they’ve always been done either. I want to be me.”
Most parents would prefer to discuss these complicated moral issues in their own way, when they feel like their child is ready for them – not be surprised when their 4-year-old is watching agenda-filled cartoons during lunchtime.
Everyone wants their children to be comfortable with who they are, express themselves, and yes, not always bend to everyone’s expectation of who they should be. But we would be much better served if cartoon narratives focused on healthy angles of individualism, like little girl characters building computers or becoming president, rather than promoting gender dysphoria.