[Durban, South Africa; December 8. Image via Getty]

A Zulu traditional dancer performs in the Phezulu Safari park in Durban on December 8, 2009. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Port Elizabeth, South Africa; December 7. Image via Getty]

A group of young South African children in Port Elizabeth wave flags (Germany) of the countries that are taking part in the 2010 Fifa Football World Cup in South Africa from June 11 to July 11, 2010. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Gugulethu, South Africa; December 2. Image via Getty]

Girls play football in the Gugulethu township outside of Cape Town on December 2, 2009. With the draw for the World Cup 2010 turning Cape Town into a hive of activity, the townships are still untouched by the build up. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

Kami is the world's first HIV-positive Muppet. She was introduced back in 2002 to help educate kids about living with HIV/AIDS and promote acceptance of HIV-positive individuals (her name is derived from the Setswana word "Kamogelo," meaning "acceptance.") Kami, who lost her mother to AIDS, is quite knowledgable about the disease, and frequently speaks with the other Muppets about the things you can and cannot do with an HIV-positive person (sex is never mentioned - the focus is more on hugging and dealing with sadness than body-to-body transmission of the disease). The blog U Don't Like My Opinion describes her as a "healthy HIV Positive, affectionate 5 year old orphan who is a little shy but quickly joins when approached in a friendly way."

Despite Kami's positive message, some disapprove of including an HIV-positive character on a children's show. Yesterday, The Week ran a roundup of the ten most controversial moments in Sesame Street history, where Kami is listed alongside other such "scandals" as the furor over Cookie Monster's unhealthy diet and Oscar the Grouch's mood swings. According to The Week, "some parents protest that their children are too young to face the harsh realities of the virus." Juhie Bhatia for Global Voices notes that much of the controversy was located in the U.S. Although Kami has never appeared on American Sesame Street, conservatives were all up in arms before her launch in 2002, apparently riled up by the fear that she would start indoctrinate kids into the homosexual lifestyle. Kami's Wikipedia page quotes a letter from the Traditional Values Coalition:

The introduction of an HIV-infected Muppet on Sesame Street is problematic because HIV is spread primarily by homosexuals and bisexuals in the U.S. It is likely that an HIV-infected Muppet would be used to teach tolerance and acceptance of homosexuals to the preschool Sesame Street audience. In effect, this would be another propaganda tool to normalize homosexuality in our culture.

Some bloggers agree. Bhatia quotes a blogger who argues that a character like Kami is unnecessary in America, because children here "are not forced to deal with the issue of HIV/AIDS at that young of an age." Rosemarie Truglio, vice president of education and research for Sesame Workshop, responds to this type of criticism in an interview with USA Today,

"We get letters all the time," Truglio says. "My response is always this: Sesame Street is this wonderful, multicultural place where we celebrate differences as well as similarities. I want to make sure – and I've inherited this mission from our founders – that when kids watch this show, they can all see themselves."

Fortunately, Truglio's attitude seems to be the prevailing one. Kami has been named a UNICEF global Champion for Children. She has appeared alongside Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, and interviewed by Katie Couric. In 2006, she spoke with Bill Clinton about AIDS and acceptance (the video is available online here). Despite the haters, Kami has become a lasting piece of Sesame Street's history, and although we probably won't be seeing Kami in the U.S. anytime soon, she is an example of Sesame Street's willingness to weather controversy in favor of education. Tuglio explains, "we never talk down to children, and we're not afraid to explore sensitive topics."

Sesame Street's HIV-Positive Muppet Raises Awareness [Global Voices Online]
At 40, Sesame Street Is In A Constant State Of Renewal [USA Today]
Kami [Wikipedia]
Top 10 Sesame Street Controversies [The Week]
President Clinton And Muppet Kami Share HIV/AIDS Message [Unicef Youtube]

[Johannesburg, October 19. Image via Getty]

A young South African girl takes part in 'football for Hope' in Alexandra township in Johannesburg on October 19, 2009. While the FIFA World Cup 2010 will bring together the greatest football teams on the planet, a different 32 teams from across the globe will converge on Alexandra for a very different festival of football: to represent the power of the game for social change. The teams taking part in football for Hope will represent organisations from around the world that use football to tackle such issues as ethnic violence in Israel and Palestine, environmental pollution in the slums of Kenya, HIV/Aids education in South Africa, landmine education in Cambodia, and gang culture in Ecuador. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Paarl, South Africa; October 16. Image via Getty]

PAARL, SOUTH AFRICA: OCTOBER 16: Mignon du Preez from South Africain action during the first one day international women's cricket match between South Africa and West Indies at Boland Park on October 16, 2009 in Paarl, South Africa. (Photo by Carl Fourie/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

[Soweto, South Africa; August 30. Image via Getty]

A young girl eats a sweet on August 30,2009 as she waits with her parents on August 30,2009 at the new Johannesburg Bus Rapid Transit System 'Rea Vaya' in Soweto, South Africa. 'Rea Vaya' (We are moving) Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) is designed to provide a high quality and affordable transport system. Rea Vaya BRT comprises a middle lane for large, high tech buses which will transport you comfortably and quickly around Johannesburg using specific designated routes, enclosed bus stations along the routes and a high tech control centre to ensure your Rea Vaya experience is a world class one. AFP PHOTO/PABALLO THEKISO (Photo credit should read PABALLO THEKISO/AFP/Getty Images)

"Rape is a crime of a sense of entitlement. It comes from a notion of power," Jewkes says, "I don't think there is a quick fix. If people were concerted about trying to fix it, it would take a generation."

According to the Associated Press, "Nearly 28 percent of men interviewed said they had forced a woman or girl to have sexual intercourse against her will, according to the survey. It said that 14 percent said they had raped a former or current girlfriend; 12 percent said they had raped someone who was not their partner; and 10 percent said they had raped both a stranger and a partner." To add to the horror, 20% of those men also admitted to having the AIDS virus. Almost 50% of those surveyed admitted to raping on more than one occasion.

Jewkes attributes the findings to a male-dominated culture that has made such practices both normal and perfectly acceptable: ""We know that we have a higher prevalence of rape in South Africa than there is in other countries," she says, "And it's partly rooted in our incredibly disturbed past and the way that South African men over the centuries have been socialised into forms of masculinity that are predicated on the idea of being strong and tough and the use of force to assert dominance and control over women, as well as other men."

The South African government, which has been criticized for failing to take proactive measures to stop the rape epidemic, is perhaps not the best place to look for understanding and support: President Jacob Zuma, elected earlier this year, was acquitted from his own rape trial in 2006 after telling "the court that the woman had dressed provocatively, in a traditional wrap-around kanga, and that it was against Zulu culture for a man to leave a sexually aroused woman unsatisfied." Zuma has since set up a "new ministry to promote women's and children's rights," but its hard to be too optimistic about a ministry for women's rights set up by a man who made such victim-blaming statements during his own rape trial.

"The absolute imperative is we have to change the underlying social attitudes that in a way have created a norm that coercing women into sex is on some level acceptable," says Jewkes. One wonders, in the face of such horrifying statistics, how long it will take for those underlying social attitudes to finally start to change.

South Africa's Rape Crisis [Time]
South African Rape Survey Shock [BBC]
Survey: 1 In 4 S. African Men Admit To Rape [MSNBC]

• Scientists are trying to figure out why some male baboons hang out with single female baboon mothers without trying to have sex with them. "So we really don't know what these guys got out of the friendship, other than maybe spending time with a mum and a new baby and having other females seeing this," said primatologist Nga Nguyen. • According to a recent survey, 47% of Hispanic women are still spending the same amount or more than they did last year, despite fears for the failing economy. • In efforts to raise awareness about HIV/AIDs, Swaziland has launched a nation-wide "love test" campaign that urges couples to get tested together. • A study of men in South Africa found that 25 percent admit to having committed a sexual assault. • The judge in the Caylee Anthony case has sealed a video of Anthony's reaction when told her daughter's body was found, saying that it would taint the jury pool. • A company in Florida is besmirching the good name of Dr. Oz by selling anti-aging pills using his image. The company claims to offer a free monthly trial, but customers say that they continued to receive charges after they had attempted to cancel their subscriptions. • Maintaining a beach-ready bikini line is not only a pain in the butt—it can also be dangerous. MSNBC warns that Brazilian waxing often carries a risk of infection. • A British father recently created the Babyglow line of onesies, which change color as the baby's temperature rises. The outfits come in baby blue, pink, and pastel green and can help protect infants from overheating. • In Britain, young women supposedly aspiring to live like the rich and famous are going bankrupt at higher rates than men, from foolish things like getting their own apartments and being subject to the wage gap. • Sony is launching a new dude-site with an online reality show about a porn star mother. • There are a number of species that engage in same-sex relationships in the animal kingdom, and scientists are learning they have an evolutionary purpose. • NYPD Officer Andrew Dunton, who mistakenly short fellow officer Omar Edwards in a case of mistaken identity, called Edwards' widow at her request to offer his condolences. • Cecile Brossard has been found guilty of the murder of her lover, French banker Edouard Stern. She killed him during a bondage session when he called her a whore. • Some psychology experts say that men are more involved than ever in their children's lives. •

[Mogale City, South Africa; June 15. Image via Getty]

MOGALE CITY, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 15: A mother carries her children in a wheelbarrow as kids enjoy a game of football in the background on June 15, 2009 in Mogale City, South Africa. Football fever is gripping South Africa as the world's seven regional champions, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, New Zealand, and the United States, compete for the FIFA Confederations Cup. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

[Rustenburg, South Africa; June 11. Image via Getty]

Young South African football fans wait for Spanish football players during the Spanish national football team's training session in Rustenburg on June 11, 2009. Spain will play New Zealand in their first match of the Confederations Cup. Brazil, Italy and Spain headline the FIFA 2009 Confederations Cup with some of the biggest names in the game looking to claim bragging rights ahead of next year's World Cup. AFP PHOTO/PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

[Nkandla, South Africa; April 22. Image via Getty]

A photgrapher takes a picture of a woman preparing to her ballot to vote in the country's fourth democratic general elections at the Ntolwane Primary school in the rural village of Nkandla, some 350 kms north of Durban on April 22, 2009. South African voters went to the polls in general elections all but certain to propel the ruling ANC party's controversial leader Jacob Zuma to the presidency. AFP PHOTO RAJESH JANTILAL (Photo credit should read RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Suzman was a staunch critic of apartheid and often one of the few critics of the system among South Africa's ruling white minority. Born Helen Gavronsky in 1917, she married Moses Meyer Suzman in 1937. After returning to her studies in Witwatersand University, Suzman studied and became enraged by South Africa's racial laws. She eventually ran for Parliament under the United Party in Johannesburg's rich Houghton district and remained the district's legislator from 1953 to 1989. In 1959, impatient with her current party's tolerance for segregation, she created the liberal Progressive Party which later became known as the Progressive Federal Party. In Parliament, Suzman became a vocal critic of apartheid, often drawing criticisms for enjoying the the benefits of apartheid:

Diminutive, elegant and indefatigable, Mrs. Suzman confronted the forbidding Afrikaner prime ministers — Hendrik F. Verwoerd, John Vorster and P. W. Botha — who became synonymous with apartheid’s repression of the black and mixed-race populations. She was dismissive of the death threats she received by telephone and in the mail, and undaunted in her showdowns with the men she described as apartheid’s leading “bullies,” who in turn dismissed her as a “dangerous subversive” and a “sickly humanist.”

Shouts of “Go back to Moscow!” greeted her when she rose in Parliament, and, on at least one occasion, “Go back to Israel!” — a reference to her antecedents as the daughter of early 20th-century Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. After the 1976 Soweto riots, Mr. Vorster mocked her for beating with what he called her “pretty little pink hands” against apartheid, while secure in the knowledge, as he claimed, that she and other white opponents could continue to enjoy the privileged lives apartheid guaranteed without fear that their demands for an end to the racial laws would succeed.

“I am not frightened of you — I never have been, and I never will be,” she told Prime Minister Botha in a parliamentary exchange in the late 1970s. “I think nothing of you.”

For his part, Mr. Botha called her “a vicious little cat.” When a government minister once accused her of embarrassing South Africa with her parliamentary questions, she replied, “It is not my questions that embarrass South Africa; it is your answers.”

Suzman also drew criticisms from international anti-apartheid activists because she favored a peaceful transition to black majority rule in South Africa and was against the use of sanctions to pressure South Africa to change their policies. However, Suzman befriended many black South African activists, including Nelson Mandela, whom she visited while he was imprisoned.

Helen Suzman, Relentless Challenger Of Apartheid System, Is Dead At 91 [NY Times]
South African Activist Helen Suzman Dies At 91 [MSNBC]