Happy Muslim Mama

Despite my best efforts to find alternatives to television for my children (including not having one), Little Lady has developed a thing for all things female and Disney which has me worried. I know it’s not a big deal for little girls to like all things pretty, pink and princessy, but I am always concerned with what my children are learning and the values they are picking up. I like that Disney-type cartoons emphasise kindness and good behaviour in a positive way, but even this is less and less the case as even cartoons for small children become more grown-up and cynical in tone. The movie Enchanted is a case in point, where the princess’s innocence and goodness is a big part of the joke.

In a way it’s easier to police against things like nudity and violence, but the real worry for me are things like stereotypes, underlying attitudes or prejudice and the values which are presented to us. An excellent example is given here with regards to Aladdin and the stereotype displayed therein. Arabs with big noses, heavy comedy accents and swords? Check. All the goodies have an American accent and Caucasian features? Check (Aladdin is based on Tom Cruise). So what does this tell our children?

Also what does Disney tell us about women? All the heroines are beautiful. So in a child’s minds we are equating virtue firmly with physical beauty. This is the opposite of what I want to teach my daughter. J K Rowling’s quote in the Telegraph newspaper regarding slimness comes to mind:

“I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny a thousand things, before ‘thin’.”

I agree with her sentiment. Virtuous, kind, good, useful, intelligent, brave, thoughtful – a thousand things that I’d like Little Lady to be before beautiful. Disney’s is a very powerful, visual medium however, so what you see is goodness is beauty and any other message is secondary.
The other thing that causes me concern is the level of hayah (modesty) in these cartoons. As it is, we are going to have a big struggle on our hands with trying to instil modesty in our children in the anything goes world we live in. It’s one thing to be strict and tell our children they can’t have boy/girlfriends, quite another to create a mindset that helps them to behave with hayah as they enter their adult lives. If they are learning at a very young age, that the purpose of life is to find a boyfriend and fall in love, where does that leave us? (with Disney, the magic is always in the kiss isn’t it?).

Of course Disney isn’t the only offender, but it most certainly seems to be the most effective one. Unfortunately, the Islamic alternatives are not always as good viewing for kids. They have the best intentions and you can see how much thought and effort has been put in, but they aren’t always entertaining, so you find that the kids don’t want to watch anymore (maybe that’s a good strategy). Any suggestions out there, especially online, would be most welcome.