Where are they, the happy working moms?
What are the roles of dad and mom in Peppa Pig, asks Swantje Karich
Source: John Keeble/Getty Images, WELT/Martin Lengemann
The British animated series Peppa Pig introduces a rainbow family. In Great Britain people are happy, Italy is raging, in Germany nobody has noticed it yet. In doing so, Penny and her mothers are making a point — and could help spark yet another debate that affects everyone.
Dhe series “Bobo Siebendormouse” and “Meine Freund Conni” are the undisputed bestsellers among children under five, even if Netflix puts a lot of pressure on the cauldron with action based on the James Bond plus fantasy scheme. As much as Conni and Bobo annoy the parents, they are happy that they exist. They are considered harmless: no super technology, no super powers.
Conni takes away the children’s fear of going to the dentist, Bobo dares to ride the carousel at the fair. But the two characters have something else in common: they talk about dad, mom and one or two children. Dad works, mom takes care (although she works). Papa goes camping with Bobo, Mama cleans the apartment with him. They all live in a house with a large garden.
Is that the role distribution that everyone wants to see? Many parents prefer to stick to the British humor of Peppa Pig. They enjoy that the funny pig family doesn’t take everything too seriously. Here the children are allowed to wallow in the mud and race down the hill far too quickly on their bikes. But here, too, the roles are clearly divided: Mama Pig cooks, Papa Pig goes to work. But there is also Frau Mümmel, who does every job that is presented in the series. You could call her a universalist. A female polar bear couple has now also been introduced to the animated series – with their daughter Penny. The step was well received in Great Britain, but nobody in Germany has noticed it yet. In Italy, however, the message – as the FAS has now reported – is stirring up the election campaign and the talk shows.
The post-fascist party of Giorgia Meloni, who will soon be prime minister, finds this “unacceptable”. One fears: “gender indoctrination”. Here in Germany, the good news about Penny and her parents will hopefully only frighten the AfD – but you can’t be sure. In this country, however, a different debate is necessary. Why is it that even the women are pressed back into roles: One of Penny’s mothers is a “doctor” and the other can “cook spaghetti”.
In recent years, the plots have been adapted to reality, at least in the newer books by Conni and Bobo: the mother is sometimes stressed because she has a lot of work and is too late to pick up at the daycare center. But is that what’s missing? It is always surprising that in books for small children one very rarely comes across mothers who work as a matter of course, such as in “Christmas Eve, on which Clowni disappeared”. A pixie book about an unusually intact family Christmas.
There it says: “Mum is coming back late from the business trip”. She is seen dressed up, happy to be with her family. And yet she demonstrates how much her working life is good for her. The father has already taken care of it, very relaxed. That is the reality of many families – or at least it is the most beautiful utopia. But why is everything so cramped in books for small children?
The text was supplemented by the sentence about the universalist Mrs. Mümmel