Beloved children’s television show Peppa Pig introduced a two-mom family in an episode this week, a first for the show that began in 2004. It uses an old plot device, but is nevertheless a significant moment of representation.
In the episode “Families,” which aired September 6 on Channel 5 in the U.K., protagonist Peppa learns about her friend Penny Polar Bear’s mothers. During playgroup, when they are all drawing pictures of their families, Penny explains, “I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti.” The episode may have been spurred by a petition started two years ago that has gathered nearly 24,000 signatures.
As representation goes, it’s an important step. Yet I can’t help feeling the writers are simply reusing a situation from the classic Heather Has Two Mommies (1989), in which children in a playgroup learn about same-sex parents and other types of families via a group drawing project. (Drawings have also been used to teach about families with same-sex parents in Asha’s Mums (1990), Molly’s Family (2004), Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio (2005), and Stella Brings the Family (2015).) It’s not a bad approach—it just seems, in 2022, a little uninspired.
Don’t get me wrong: Peppa Pig has a broad international fan base, and I applaud their inclusion of Penny (who seems to be an ongoing character) and her mums. This is a significant (if late) step for the show and for representation of queer families. I do hope, though, that we also see ongoing representation of Penny and her mums rather than simply confining the mums to an episode “about” families (akin to shows that only show people with disabilities in episodes “about” disabilities, or Jewish people in stories “about” Hanukkah). Families with same-sex parents deserve to be seen doing all kinds of things, just as transgender, nonbinary, and gender creative people deserve to be seen in episodes not “about” gender.
Peppa Pig joins a growing list of shows for younger children that have had one-off or ongoing representation of LGBTQ people and families. A partial list includes Postcards from Buster (PBS, way back in 2005), Chip and Potato (Netflix), Pete the Cat (Amazon), Bug Diaries (Amazon), the reboot of Clifford the Big Red Dog (Amazon and PBS Kids), Rugrats (Paramount), T.O.T.S. (Disney Junior), Doc McStuffins (Disney Channel), Arthur (PBS), The Bravest Knight (Hulu), Ridley Jones (Netflix), Muppet Babies (Disney Junior), Madagascar: A Little Wild (Hulu/Peacock), and the venerable Sesame Street. Shows for slightly older children have been even more inclusive of LGBTQ characters in recent years. (See my posts tagged “Children’s Television” for more.)
If you’re in the U.K., you can watch the episode here. I currently have no information about when it will be broadcast on Nick Jr., its network in the U.S.