Parents Outraged over Kids Cartoon Featuring Dancing Penis and Vagina

You don’t want your toddlers learning everything about the human body by the age of 6? Then you’ll have to stay as far away from Sweden as you possibly can because there is now a children’s television program — aimed at children aged three to six — in the country which is showing a video featuring a dancing penis and vagina hopping around and wearing eyelashes and a top hat. [1] [2]. The Swedish cartoon produced for children’s TV which is showing singing, dancing genitals has generated controversy in the country. [3] Over 2.5 million people have seen the video, produced by “Bacillakuten,” that shows Willie the penis and Snippan the vagina popping around and rhyming on screen. [2] [4] You know, so the kids can sing along to dancing and grinning genitalia for about a minute in the name of education. [2] Producers say the aim of the clip was to get children thinking about their genitals in a more positive way, and start a conversation about them before they reach puberty. [3] But while many Swedish parents have reacted warmly to the video – which has been viewed more than two million times on Youtube – others were less than impressed. [3] The short video, produced for the Barnkanalen children’s service, features a song with lyrics including: “Here come Willie at a run, he has no pants…the vagina is cool, you better believe it, even on an old lady. It just sits there so elegantly.” [3]  After many justified complaints from parents–ranging from “You’ve gone too far!” [4] to “My kids will never watch again” [4]— the company responded to criticism and said it was simply trying to facilitate dialogue for parents wanting to talk about sex with their kids. [2]

From its Facebook page:

“Our program is based on questions from the kids and we have received lots of questions about Willie and Snippan…For children, it is quite natural, as any body part. And in each program, we also do a song. We hope that this song will help to make it easier for parents to talk about Willie and Snippan with their children, there is a pedagogical purpose to it.” [4]

The best part? The clip gained further notoriety when it was briefly classified by YouTube as “adult” content requiring viewers to confirm they are aged over 18, but the programme makers persuaded the company to relent. [1] [5] [16] Kajsa Peters, the director of Bacillakuten, told The Guardian: Kajsa Peters, the programme’s executive producer, said reaction had been overwhelmingly supportive. “We aim our programmes at children, but most parents watch them with the kids and we hope we make it easier for them to talk about and explain things.” [3] [16]  On which she added: “When there is so much discussion and debate maybe that means it’s something society needs.” [16]