UNICEF Uses Media Giants to Spread Feminism

by Austin Ruse

UNICEF USES AMERICAN MEDIA GIANTS TO SPREAD FEMINISM TO DEVELOPING WORLD

* Seeming to wander further and further from its original mandate to feed and medically treat suffering children, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is using animated cartoons and puppets to spread the battle of the sexes to little girls in the developing world. These programs frequently use financial and broadcast assistance from such media giants as Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, and Turner Broadcasting.

* Few would argue that these campaigns have the laudable goals of improving the lot of girls in the developing world. What could be suspicious to some is the use of feminist language that is familiar to those in the industrialized west.

* One of UNICEF's cartoon stars is a spunky little girl named Meena who lives in a village with her family and pet parrot Mithu. UNICEF describes Meena as an "enchanting heroine" who works to promote the rights of the girl-child in South Asia. UNICEF goes on to describe Meena as "not a victim," and says that her "intelligence and positive attitude lead her to find solutions to real life problems." In one episode, "Dividing the Mango," Meena's brother discovers that doing Meena's labor-intensive housework is much harder than his usual job of sitting in the shade watching the family cow.

* Meena's counterpart in Eastern and Southern Africa is a character named Sara who also has to deal with an evil uncle who is seen at various times threatening both Sara and her pet monkey Zingo. With her father absent, the evil uncle eventually informs Sara that she cannot attend Secondary School because only boys should go. A science wiz, Sara, along with her teacher Ms. Matata, builds a smokeless stove that burns less firewood, thereby saving the environment and helping the village economically. Of course, the evil uncle takes credit but he is found out, and the heroine Sara goes on to Secondary School.

* Writing in a UNICEF publication called "Puppets With a Purpose," Namibian Martha Aebes tells how a Catholic priest gave her the idea for presenting puppet shows to promote AIDS awareness. Her show was not described, but it debuted during something called "Safe Sex Week." It was so successful Aedes now takes her puppet show to three different villages a week, all paid for by a consortium of international agencies.

* On December 13 UNICEF is launching an international cartoon campaign to promote different aspects of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The campaign of more than 100 thirty-second animated shorts will be shown on television networks around the world, including major networks in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

* Almost all the cartoons show children under attack from some parental or other adult figure. They argue that children have certain universal rights like the right to privacy, the right to appropriate information, the right to express their opinions, the right to freedom of thought, the right to share views with others, and the right to play.

* UNICEF estimates it has received roughly $17 million of free television air-time for this campaign. With a grant from billionaire Ted Turner's Cartoon Network, the UN agency is producing a second wave of cartoons aimed specifically at the developing world.

This item 578 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org