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Scott Mendelson

Scott Mendelson

Posted: September 23, 2010 01:21 PM

She's not exposing any actual flesh, other than a bit of leg. None of her lyrics are profane. There is not a hint of sexuality or any lust in Elmo's eyes. She's singing a song about opposites (hot/cold, up/down, etc). Yet, for the apparent crime of, well, being genetically gifted, Perry's music duet with Elmo will not be airing on television as intended. The video debuted on Monday, and apparently parents (or perhaps one social values group typing out countless complaints) have bemoaned the token amount of cleavage that Perry's dress allows us to view. It's a green and yellow summer dress. Either the whole world is filled with sexually-frustrated Oscar the Grouches, or some conservative group spent Monday and Tuesday hammering out letters of protest.



I'm not going to get into the history of audience uproar over allegedly sexual content on television, I'm just going to say this: Katy Perry is cute. She looks cute in that outfit, which is apparently a make-believe wedding dress (notice the white tiera). She's not naked, she's not acting vulgar, and she's not espousing some subversive propaganda. She's an attractive singer singing an asexual song with a puppet about being fickle. Parents may find that of prurient interest, but I guarantee anyone still young enough to un-ironically watch Sesame Street isn't going to notice or care about how low-cut her dress is. There was a segment three years ago featuring Tina Fey dressed like a pirate. That was also of prurient interest to this particular parent, but that doesn't mean I'm going to write in to complain.


When I was six years old, I was forced everyday at four o'clock to make a major decision. From 4:00-5:00pm, I was allowed to watch an hour of television. But 30 minutes of that had to be Sesame Street. Which means that every single weekday, I had to Sophie's choose between watching He-Man and the Masters of the Universe at 4 or watching GI Joe at 4:30. I was certainly into girls at that young age, thanks to Mia Sara in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Bebe Neuwirth in Cheers. But I still would have chosen watching He-Man toss a boulder at Skeletor versus watching Madonna (the 80s equivalent of Perry) chase Grover around Sesame Street in a low-cut dress.


Today, I'd rather watch She-Ra toss a boulder at Skelator than He-Man, but that's because I'm a grownup. Point being, kids do notice this stuff, but it's the parents that teach them that it's of paramount importance, or that it's dirty and wrong and something to be ashamed of. Absent any actual objectionable content, it appears that Katy Perry has been (partially?) edited out of Sesame Street for being too (to quote Zoolander) ridiculously good looking. Apparently, the monster at the end of this story is... us.


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Trina Green
Music lover, concert junkie, independent thinker.
08:10 AM on 09/27/2010
Seriously, prudish f*ckwits? Katy Perry's outfit was "too revealing"? Did Elmo get a boner? No, wait. Your husband got the boner and now you're pissed off. Well I'm pissed off, too, because you just made me defend Katy Perry.
Clevelandinwi
Progressive is good; regressive, not so much.
06:58 AM on 09/27/2010
I never saw it but I've never seen her in anything appropriate for a kindergarten class.
Clevelandinwi
Progressive is good; regressive, not so much.
06:56 AM on 09/27/2010
Simple question: Who are Perry or her 'handlers' trying to 'appeal' to on Sesame Street? C'MON !
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Lisa Shields
Poet & Advocate For Special Needs Children
02:18 AM on 09/26/2010
I watched the clip, with my now grown daughter, who used to watch Sesame Street.

People? This wasn't a Lady Gaga video, featuring fetish wear, and butt floss.
It was in fact, kind of charming.
Yes, she has breasts...most women DO.
But unless you are going to start demanding Burkas on the female guests, I didn't see anything to "inflame: tiny minds.
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DWGRadio
12:09 AM on 09/26/2010
Tina Fey did the pirate with an Irish accent? Who ever heard of an Irish Pirate?
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skantea
A Resource Based Economy
06:05 PM on 09/25/2010
I understand any parent who doesn't want their child to think that outfit is appropriate.
It's not televisions job to challenge a parents in-home rules, and it goes against their profit motive - ratings.
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M Jeffrey
11:43 AM on 09/26/2010
In home rules no but to demand a tv show remove it is censorship and just plain wrong and if you think that dress is inapporpriate may you should try therapy as you would have to be repressed sexually to thin that thes is aproblem with that dress.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
skantea
A Resource Based Economy
11:30 PM on 09/26/2010
Don't even start with the lame sexual repression jibes. No respectable parent would want their five year old daughter wanting to wear that outfit for Halloween, let alone to a party when she turns 13.
It's Sesame Street! Censorship? Really? A ridiculous pop star with absolutely No redeeming qualities wants to strut down Sesame Street flashing (frankly) pale, unattractive cleavage, and your confused mind wants to pick a fight with me for her right to do it?
Find a real cause, man, find a real cause.
03:51 PM on 09/25/2010
all who have a problem with this go google "polly darton sesame street" and see what comes up.
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skantea
A Resource Based Economy
06:02 PM on 09/25/2010
Could you post the link, please.
I can't find the cleavage pic you're referring to.
I remember her being on both sesame street and captain kangaroo, and both times she was wearing a long sleeved buttoned up cowboy shirt.
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ChelleAgain
It's Chelle ... again.
09:58 PM on 09/24/2010
It's not a complex narrative. They're supposed to be playing dress-up and so she, like any number of girls in the target audience, puts together a sparkly, girly outfit. Being an adult woman, the dress fits her differently than it does a little girl, but she's behaving innocently, as if she were a child.

Adults notice her tatas, but that's their thing. Little girls want to play dress-up. Boys might prefer to play tag. The fact that he did want to play dress-up originally is for the boys who might like it too to not feel like girly-boys.

Why don't we ban Hannah Montana reruns because -- shocker -- some dads might enjoy it on a different level. (Yeah, I'm looking at you, sir.)
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DWGRadio
12:11 AM on 09/26/2010
I for one would like to see Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry singing "Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood" while rolling around in a sandbox full of jell-o.
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workinguy
When Republicans Win You Lose
09:02 PM on 09/24/2010
What about Elmo and all that exposed fur/carpet?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
tacevad
American SS Card Carrying Socialist
07:33 PM on 09/24/2010
there is this little thing called an "off" button on every tv set in the world...you don't like a program?turn it off and move on with your life. I use it all the time for things like FOX so-called News
02:57 PM on 09/24/2010
I think kids would be focused more on the song, which is quite catchy. And Elmo too, who could steal the spotlight from Santa Clause. Shame things didn't work out.
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wallyone
09:32 AM on 09/24/2010
Dear American's kids: get used to it. It is an anatomical fact of life. Better to acknowledge it simply and move on. There will be time to come to grips with the excruciating pleasure and pain of being around attractive women later on.
08:01 AM on 09/24/2010
Parents who object to Kate Perry's dress need to keep their children away from beaches and public swimming pools, I have seen bikini's with far less material.

I guess we couldn't have Wonder Woman on TV anymore... appeals to prurient interests? I'm sorry Sesame Street caved to this kind of pressure.
10:11 PM on 09/24/2010
Jill, couldn't agree more though I imagine that many of these uptight parents checked out Katy's catalogue and found her cheeky takes on sex and gender issues. "Peacock" and "Circle The Drain" on the recent album are cherry bombs among the pews, the former especially sneeky peaky as it comes on like a cheerleader chant. Katy Perry has plopped herself down in a strange spot, cuteness and irony and Lolita sexiness all in one package: hard for media to pigeonhole that.
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DWGRadio
12:12 AM on 09/26/2010
And don't forget Erin Esurance. I actually know someone who publicly declared her hot on Facebook. Needless to say he is single. :)
03:11 AM on 09/24/2010
This is a pathetic point of view from someone who evidently knows nothing about the sexuality of small boys and the sexualization of children. He should go back where he came from.
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KeepLeft
This is not my self.
08:13 AM on 09/24/2010
I'm really trying to figure out your point - is it that small boys are overly sexual and we must guard against them becoming more so by shielding them from that fact that women possess breasts?

I seriously think this is a bit of a Rorschach test: If you see breasts in this picture you probably see breasts everywhere.
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DWGRadio
12:12 AM on 09/26/2010
I certainly try to.
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M Jeffrey
11:45 AM on 09/26/2010
Where he came from what in hell do you mean by that?
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LiberalBuzz
Voting republican is voting against America.
11:49 PM on 09/23/2010
Oh come on. She was very underdressed for Sesame Street. I'm a Katy Perry fan and I KNOW she doesn't always show that amount of cleavage so there was no real reason to show it to Elmo and company. She could have still been Katy Perry without quite so much cleavage showing.
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M Jeffrey
11:46 AM on 09/26/2010
Nonsense! you are a prude
08:27 AM on 09/27/2010
I agree. I think the whole "we must shield the children" attitude is just silly, but the neckline IS a bit much for Sesame Street. The fuss, overblown though it is, was quite predictable in today's America, and if they really wanted to get this cute song on the show someone could have rethought the dress.