Having two kids with a 5 and and half year age gap means that I’m suffering enjoying a lot of the same programmes a second time around, and BB is at that age where EVERYTHING must be Peppa Pig (save for a couple of times a week when she takes a brief foray into Topsy and Tim, her previous programme du jour). This means that, during the week, Peppa is usually on in the backgroud for much of the late morning/early afternoon period while I work and do housework and BB mills around doing what it is that toddlers do (picking her nose and sticking stickers on my furniture, mostly).
Watching the same episodes of Peppa over and over again means that you notice certain things and one of those things is what I like to call “The Emasculation of Daddy Pig”. See, there seems to be a running theme in Peppa; Daddy is a bit useless and is fair game for mockery. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a bit of banter (HASHTAG BANTZ), but he seems to really get the rough end of the deal, and it’s got to a point where it’s verging on misandry. Jokes are made about Daddy Pig that no-one would DARE make about Mummy Pig because it would have people getting into an Everyday Sexism frenzy…so, let’s take a look at what those episodes might look like…
Mummy’s Fat Tummy
Everyone decides (after years of mockery) that Mummy Pig needs to get off of her fat arse and lose some weight, so Daddy Pig forces her to do exercise videos and go on bike rides (on a bike which is dangerously small for her). Everyone is waiting at home to take the piss out of how unfit she is.
Mummy Fucks Up The DIY
Daddy Pig has an important meeting to go to, so he asks Mummy Pig to hang a painting. Of course, Mummy is a hapless fuckwit and manages to knock a whole load of plaster off of the wall. She’s terrified that Daddy Pig will have a shit-fit at her when he gets home so she quickly re-renders the wall before he gets there. Once he gets home, he takes over because he’s obviously so much more capable than her and puts the painting up with a single flick of a hammer.
Mummy’s a Greedy Bitch
The whole family visits the supermarket to buy lots of healthy things off of their list. When they get to the checkout, they realise that Mummy Pig has put a chocolate cake on the conveyor belt and although they all agree that Mummy is a greedy, ‘naughty’ bastard, they all let her have it anyway (despite the fact that she’s clearly the main breadwinner and as such can buy whatever the fuck she wants).
Mummy Pig Doesn’t Speak French
Peppa gets a phone call from her French pen-pal and despite claiming she can speak French, Mummy Pig isn’t able to communicate with Delphine and, in fact, doesn’t even recognise that she’s speaking a foreign language in the first place, declaring it all to be “nonsense” and revealing herself to be a braggart who lacks any form of common sense or intelligence.
Now, I’m just going to put this out there; if ANY of these episodes were real and this kind of mockery, fat-shaming and stereotypical sexist bullshit was aimed at Mummy Pig, there would be OUTRAGE. But, because Daddy Pig is only a man, it’s okay to disregard his feelings and bully him on a daily basis, because don’t be silly, men don’t have feelings!
The worst part is, Peppa Pig was created and is written by TWO MEN! That leads me to one of two conclusions – either Mark Baker and Neville Astley are weird, self-hating males who think it’s okay to deride their own gender OR they think that they’re somehow appealing to the common housewife who obviously hates men. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with either conclusion, if I’m honest. I want my girls to grow up knowing A) everyone has different strengths, regardless of their gender and B) bullying people based on archaic, clichéd notions is just wrong.
I’d love to know what you think about this. Am I reading far too much into Peppa bloody Pig and need to seriously get a life? Or is this something which gets on your teats as much as it does mine? Leave me a comment below.
I agree! There’s an episode where it’s Father’s Day, and mummy pig tells daddy pig that it’s not a REAL day and just a made up modern day (not like Mother’s Day which is far superior) and has forgotten to buy him a card, this episode really triggered me.
You have a great blog. this post in particular is very helpful!
Your assement of Peppa Pig is 100% correct. I’ve noticed this trend in Western culture for decades now, but recently it’s become de jour to portray fathers, and men in general, as useless lumps, when the opposite would have the media, and feminist organisations up in arms.
It’s the offhand way it’s presented that’s such a negative influence on really young children.
Is not just daddy pig: It’s all men in the programme. Granny also has to save Grandad, and men can’t even have a bbq and play football (cos that’s all we want to do) without needing the fire brigade – which is obviously a women only organisation. Miss Rabbit seems to have hogged every career but Mummy Pig’s. George is obviously Peppa’s inferior. Daddy pig can’t even do raw strength. Mummy wins every event at the fair. As if anyone ever wins. And I’d rather not have my kids think they will. Or that teasing is ok, or being generally bossy. I don’t mind muddy puddle jumping within reason, but it also infers that the aim is to cover the clothes of everyone around you in mud…
I’d love to ban watching it, but I feel like that’s be over reacting. I’m conscious that I may only have noticed the sexism coz it’s aimed against me this time…
I agree. Grandma is so rude when she turns off Grandpa and Daddy pig’s race, and then hypocritical and rude when she tells to be quieter so she can watch TV. She also dominates Grandpa Pig in the episode where she takes over his garden with lawn gnomes. My husband and I don’t think it’s cute. Miss Gazelle takes the male museum curators car, and Miss Rabbit steals Grandpa’s train – because they have more important things to do than the men. Reverse sexism is still no fun to watch, and I don’t like the impression it’s making on my daughter.
Thank you! I have been saying this for about 6 months now. Something hasn’t felt right about how they treat him… so is my son to grow up thinking that way about himself? Very upsetting!
Don’t forget that every time he says “I am a bit of an expert”, it is usually followed by him failing at everything from map reading to explaining English to a non English speaking person.
There’s also the carnival episode where mummy pig wins all the prizes because mummy pig is awesome and daddy pig can’t even win the strength test, which mummy pig knocks out of the park.
It is reverse stereotype.
Meant to be shocking as that is what women endure in every situation of their life.
Yes, no one actually tells Mummy pig to loose weight, but no need: it is all over the women press: Tips about how to choose the right lipstick to go with the right navy silk dress that will hide her mummy belly, get organized so she can fit more and more chores in 24 hours with a smile on her face, and yet find some “me-time” i.e. time to get her legs waxed and do some exercising of her fat arse. Exercising is also good for relaxation and mind health, so she will not bother men with very womanly issues such as depression. And also if she could give a blowjob to daddy when she finally gets to go to bed in the evening, that would be great, thank you very much, as every woman needs to have a “healthy sex life”.
She cannot really fail at DIY, because she will not even try, she will just cackle at her own incompetence and pass the tools to a capable man (and be laughed at for being confused with these tools when she was never aloud to have a look at them/ play with them as a kid, she had a toy pram and a toy baby with a toy kitchen instead). Same thing about the map reading/technology. Everybody knows women are hopeless at this, from the prehistoric times when Women would stay in the cave to look after babies and cook the meat while manly men were going out hunting and acquiring a better distance vision and navigating skills.
Mummy pig doesn’t need to be reminded that she is a greedy pork, because in the tube this morning she saw about 15 photos of men having a manly steak, and of women laughing out loud happily having a green salad with no dressing. She knows it already as she had to refrain a greedy craving of sugar when she woke up this morning after 5hours of sleep (you know, by the time she has finished clearing daddy’s dinner and cleaning the bathroom after the kids bath, she went to bed late, was woken up by the baby 3 times and then had to get up at 6am to get breakfast and the kids ready as, you know, she only works from home, so it is not an actual job, she gets plenty of time to herself, so she can let Daddy sleep longer and have plenty of rest for his actual important job).
Mummy pig actually speaks fluent French. However, no matter how better educated, qualified, experienced, capable, or skilled she is, Daddy pig will always be chosen over her for any job (American presidency would be a recent example). Or if a male boss does her the immense favour of employing her – maybe for typing letters from home because that is the only thing that is compatible that being a proper mummy – then she will make a third less money, because you know, women are not that reliable, they always put their family first (which men don’t obviously).
Funny to see all the man tears over Daddy Pig bashing.
On the other hand, did any one notice the actual sexist stereotypes in Peppa? They go to the library: Girls choose books about flowers, pretty dresses, being a nurse. Boys choose books about football and dinosaurs. Pink is not a very good colour for a football shirt. Miss Rabbit is such a feminist figure! yes, but she doesn’t have any kids of her own, does she? because Women can’t have it all. Mrs Rabbit is the proper mummy, married with Mr. Rabbit, stay at home mum with 4 kids. Mr. Rabbit on the other hand, is a father but also works in Daddy Pig’s architect firm, as the train controller, the museum guide… And look at Miss Rabbit’s Jobs: She runs the ice cream parlour, the supermarket/museum/aquarium cashier, waitress, nurse at the hospital. Ok she drives a helicopter (that has got a automatic pilot) and leads the mummy fire brigade (but has never actually put out a fire because it is just a good excuse for a nice cup of tea and a chat). Luckily proper jobs like building a house or being a doctor are left to proper male characters. Pfeww!
So reverse stereotypes are okay but stereotypes are not? Women are allowed to be outraged but men are not? Double standards aplenty in your post, a logical fallacy consistently typical of the radical feminist agenda you seem hellbent on spewing, rather than addressing the actual subject matter in question. And as for your amusement at the so called “man tears”, look at the other people who have posted in agreement of the article. Both genders have agreed that Daddy Pig is treated most unkindly in the show, which was the subject matter, which you have barely acknowledged. Reverse sexism is still sexism. Get over yourself, get out of your safe space and grow the hell up.
Reverse stereotype is a tool to fight stereotype 🙂
It is deliberately sexist towards men because sexism towards men is shocking, as we have not bathed in it since childhood, so we immediately notice it. It is done on purpose to make you realise that it is usually what women put up with all day long, without you realising.
For another good example you can have a look at the twitter account @manwhohasitall.
In this account we pretend to live in a world let by women who bash men for not smiling, ageing badly, having annoying voices or not presenting a properly moisturised penis at all times.
It is designed to be shocking, but the aim is not to bash men – only to realise the constant women bashing.
I also hate the way he always gets lost and is confused by any technology more complicated than the telephone. It would be nice if my kid wouldn’t jump in every friggin muddy puddle we come across also
I feel you, I noticed this within a few episodes of my first watch of Peppa Pig. I really hate the episodes where Daddy Pig’s food is given away to the ducks or George. And when they all forgot Daddy Pig was asleep under the hat buried in the sand and also it went home without him. It’s said because like you say if this were all aimed at Mummy Pig everyone would be petitioning for it to be taken off TV. Poor Daddy Pig!
Exactly… I’ve noticed it too… So unfair to Daddy pig. Don’t know what the children learn from it.
Don’t forget he is unable to leave their Italian villa without falling into the pool. Everytime. Mummy Pig the Eejit.
With you on this one. It annoys the hell out of me that Daddy Pig is always treated like a complete idiot – as you say there would be outrage if it was the other way round. Plus I don’t want my girls thinking that being disrespectful to either parent is acceptable.
I have never thought of it like this but you do have a valid point! How unfair on Daddy pig!