Were there any classic Sesame Street muppets/puppets that were girls? I know they've a whole new cast since I watched as a little girl: Zoe, Abby, probably more than I know. I don't think Elmo was a character way back when. As Josh & I chatted about this, he ventured a guess that maybe Big Bird was a girl? It rocked my world -- how could Big Bird be a girl?!? Then, I realized that maybe Big Bird was like a little kid's version of Pat from Saturday Night Live --- the androgynous mystery that never would quite give up the clue to its identity. As I had always assumed Big Bird was a boy, I looked at him from that perspective. But I GUESS there was nothing so gender specific about him that he would HAVE to be a boy, except the pronoun he. God bless pronouns! At least Wikipedia refers to Big Bird as a he. Another funny note. Carroll Spinney is the actor who plays Big Bird, but, as fate would have it, Carroll Edwin Spinney (also called Ed) happens to be a man! So, my question still stands. Were the original creators of Sesame Street so unPolitically Correct that they created a whole world where girls didn't exist (except for humans, of course!) Can you think of any classic Sesame Street girl monsters? Maybe Snuffleupagus (I always thought it was an f. . as in snuffleufagus. . oh well. I guess Sesame Street never looks quite the same through adult eyes.
7 comments:
I always thought of Big Bird as a boy. I think it was the voice but Snuffleufagus as a girl cause of the eyelashes.
I always thought of Big Bird as a boy....Jack says he thought Big Bird and Snuffleupagus were both boys.
I did NOT know that Snuffy was spelled with a "p"...I always heard it wrong too. To me, BB was a boy.
No, no, no. It's absolute absurdity to think that Big Bird is a girl. :)
As for Snuffy (I too just learned recently that it's spelled with a "p"), he is a boy. His first name is Aloysius. He has a baby sister named Alice.
I found a comprehensive list of muppets on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sesame_Street_characters
It mentions Gladys the Cow being around since 1971. Otherwise, I think it's mostly been male muppets.
Ok. I looked on Wikipedia. The only female characters that I THINK I recognize are listed below. I have to say, it's pretty sad. At least there are human females!
- Chrissy and the Alphabets
- Countess Dahling von Dahling
- Fluffy
- Gladys the Cow
- Grundgetta
- Prairie Dawn
Elmo goes way back; how far I don't know. I love the dress for Kate.
Elmo goes way back; how far I don't know. I love the dress for Kate.
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