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Is New Sesame Street Character Too Girly?

This month, Sesame Street introduced a new female character, Abby Cadabby. Abby, a fairy in training, wears pink, carries a magical wand crowned with a pom-pom -- and is creating some controversy: Is she an important addition to the largely male monster cast, or is she too much of a girly-girl?

Read a response from the Sesame Workshop, "Don’t Judge a Fairy by Her Wings" -- then share your own opinion.

a response from the Sesame Workshop

On August 14th, Sesame Street launched its 37th season on PBS with the debut of its newest female character, Abby Cadabby, to the wonderfully diverse cast. Abby is a fairy-in-training whose mother is a Fairy Godmother.

As deemed by her family heritage, Abby has wings and carries a magical wand crowned with a pom-pom. She is pink, wears a dress and her hair in pigtails. At first glance, one may be quick to judge that we created a gender stereotyped girl, but those who know the mission of Sesame Street know better. And they are right. Abby’s smart, funny, excited about learning and much more than a character fostering gender stereotypes.

Sesame Street is the only preschool television show that is based on a comprehensive "school readiness" curriculum that addresses all aspects of a child's development from cognitive and academic skills to social, emotional, and physical development.

Over the years, Sesame Street has introduced millions of children to information and experiences ranging from nutrition and space exploration to lessons about cooperation, friendship, and diversity. When a child relates to a character, it is through this connection they are exposed to a rich array of "life lessons," ranging from language and math skills, to getting along with others, resiliency, and healthy habits.

Sesame Street may be the only place that all children are represented and therefore are empowered by these portrayals.

The creators of Sesame Street thought long and hard about who this new female character would be and her role in helping today's children prepare for both the academic and social/emotional challenges of going to school.

Abby is a confident, enthusiastic 3-year-old who is eager to learn about how the "real" world works. She's shy at first, as a newcomer to Sesame Street from the world of Fairytales, but is quick to make friends with all the Sesame Street characters, particularly the other girls, Zoe and Rosita. As a fairy-in-training, she has a "training wand" and with that wand she can "poof" herself to other places, though not with 100 percent accuracy just yet.

While some may judge Abby as incompetent, to the contrary, she is a preschooler gaining mastery of newly learned concepts and skills. Equally important is her relationship with her mother, which models the vital role parents and other nurturing adults play in fostering a love of learning. Another aspect of Abby's character is that she's resilient and is modeling how one can cope with a range of emotions when adjusting to new environments and making new friends.

Furthermore, Abby's friendships with the other female characters will be an important tool for demonstrating healthy female relationships.

Sesame Street stands for empowering all children, providing confidence that they should be proud of who they are no matter their skin color, eye shape, hair texture or even if their favorite color is pink. That includes boys, girls, monsters or fairies-in-training. What matters most are the skills that children master, the lessons they experience, their respect for themselves and others, and being confident that they can make a difference in this world.