Intersectionality has become the crux of media in the past years. More and more shows are featuring casts that are diverse in terms of race, gender, and social status. We as media consumers can now plainly see that representation matters. However intersectionality has not been as widespread in the domain of children's television. Some people believe that kids are too young to comprehend or understand topics such as race or gender, however Jennings finds that "Children may begin to express transgender identity as early as (age) 3 or 4" (Jennings 2016) So why don't we see more representation, and positive representation at that, in children's television?
Julie's Greenroom features an assortment of characters from different races, genders, and ability. What I really liked about the introduction of our puppet friends was that right off the bat they show off each puppets strengths. I think the introduction that I liked the most was Hank's. Hank is a young boy in a wheelchair but that doesn't' seem to get him down. Quite often in media we will see disabled characters looked down upon or bullied. Growing up watching television I can only recount a single character in a wheelchair that was portrayed in a positive manner for most of the show. That was in SuperStore. Hank was introduced with his best friend Spike, and then immediately hank went to show off his skills on the piano. By introducing this character with a disability and right away showing the things they are good at it adds another layer to their identity. As a viewer you won't reduce Hank to what he cannot do, instead we see what he can do. This show does an excellent job at introducing these differences in characters and appearance without those differences becoming the point of the character. By showcasing their differences and having them ultimately come together at the end of the episode is the beauty of intersectionality for Kid's programming
Julie's Greenroom features an assortment of characters from different races, genders, and ability. What I really liked about the introduction of our puppet friends was that right off the bat they show off each puppets strengths. I think the introduction that I liked the most was Hank's. Hank is a young boy in a wheelchair but that doesn't' seem to get him down. Quite often in media we will see disabled characters looked down upon or bullied. Growing up watching television I can only recount a single character in a wheelchair that was portrayed in a positive manner for most of the show. That was in SuperStore. Hank was introduced with his best friend Spike, and then immediately hank went to show off his skills on the piano. By introducing this character with a disability and right away showing the things they are good at it adds another layer to their identity. As a viewer you won't reduce Hank to what he cannot do, instead we see what he can do. This show does an excellent job at introducing these differences in characters and appearance without those differences becoming the point of the character. By showcasing their differences and having them ultimately come together at the end of the episode is the beauty of intersectionality for Kid's programming