Kami may be controversial for a westeran audience, but in parts of Africa, the pediatric AIDS rate can go as high as 50%. AIDs is not an "issue" there, it's a daily reality. #sesamestreet
@whynotshesaid: That's exactly what came to mind for me, too. His story was fascinating and sad to me. I grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, so it was also extremely close to home--and caused the first stirrings of disgust with the intolerance of the bible belt. I have no issue with an HIV-positive muppet; I think it's a wonderful way to teach children acceptance and tolerance. #sesamestreet
@Red-headed bookworm: @you've got red on you: I actually lived in Utah at the time, and a lot of kids didn't know anything about AIDS, but those who did were pretty ignorant and mean about it. It just wasn't something that was discussed, you know? Plus our educators were too busy sending home fliers warning our parents about drug dealers who were hanging around playgrounds and pushing LSD on Mickey Mouse stickers to spend any time clarifying things related to the "gay disease."
But I used to sneak my stepmom's People magazines, and I watched the made-for-TV movie with Lukas Haas when it came out, and I was so upset by the whole thing. Not just that he had this fatal illness through no fault of his own, but that other people were so cruel about it. I mean, I was old enough to know that people could be real dicks to each other - I knew about slavery and the civil rights movement and sexism and sex abuse and ugly divorces and custody battles - but even so, the language used to discuss people with AIDS was shocking to me.
@Red-headed bookworm: They even have a section of the Children's Museum in Indy dedicated to him - with his actual bedroom furniture and all. #sesamestreet
A while back I watched a documentary about Sesame Street and how they launch the series and localize it in different countries. And I have to say that lambasting an HIV-positive puppet for the South African series is just ignorant. A huge percentage of children have HIV/AIDS and/or have lost a family member to it. Introducing this character is a way for kids to know what's going on. This is a very real issue there. #sesamestreet
if sesame street really wanted to push the gay agenda, Bert would get aids from a late-night cruise in central park and pass it along to Ernie. That would be a great scandal. #sesamestreet
Kami probably got it from her mother as I read somewhere that mothers have about 1 in 4 chance of passing it on to their children if they give birth through the birth canal.
Personally, there is no "too" young, and I think this character is great. One of my best friend's hubby is HIV+ and it's important for kids (hell, grown ups) to understand that 1) this is not just a developing world illness and 2) it does not mean you're going to drop dead any second. Oh, and it's not contagious. Seriously, it still baffles me how some people retract.
Anything that promotes tolerance for something that has been so stigmatized is a positive in my book.
@Penny: Not only tolerance but actually knowing anything about it. I had a human sexuality teacher at a community college tell the class that HIV can skip generations. A woman can have it, not give it to her child, but then the grandkid can be born with it because apparently he thinks it becomes part of the DNA. Like, wtf. I was the only one to call him on it. The amount of misconceptions I have come across when it deals with HIV/AIDS is just staggering. #sesamestreet
@Elaken: My sixth-grade teacher told my class that AIDS came from people having sex with monkeys. Really. 1987 was a weird time, but still. #sesamestreet
@Elaken: This is actually possible, any university microbiology/virology classes will tell you that HIV can be intgrated into the host genome (AKA human DNA) and remain in a dormant like state called latency. It probably wasn't passed through the mother's DNA because HIV doesnt tend to attack gamete cells, they go for immune cells which could have been given to the child in many possible ways, through the placenta, or the breast milk. And then the child carried the latent form throughout her life and then in the grandchild the virus decided to manifest itself. #sesamestreet
@la.donna.pietra: Sometimes they tell me that the government created AIDS to kill black people. To which I reply, "Then why did gay white men have it first in the U.S.?" #sesamestreet
@la.donna.pietra: The section from that website about post-integration latency is says that the HIV genome is, in some cases, integrated into the host genome. Maybe I was a little unclear with my definition of latency? Latency in viruses is just when a virus establishes a domant state in a host cell, some viruses are incorportated into the genome and some just lie within the cytoplasm, but in the website article it is talking about clinical latency which is different. I just wanted to make a point that it could be possible for someone to have it, their kid "not have it" (latent virus stage) and then the grandkid have it, although this is probably very common, and that the HIV genome being integrated into the human genome is not some absurd idea (look at retrovirus, almost 10% of our human genome has ancient retroviral DNA). I'm not an expert (yet haha) by any means, I've only taken a few courses on this stuff. #sesamestreet
Oh Traditional Values Coalition--you never stop amazing me in your ability to not get it. The issue with Kami presumable has nothing to do with homosexuality since she's a 5 year old orphan--presumably infected by her now deceased mother! #sesamestreet
@jemandtheholograms: Another "what?" moment was when they said that HIV is primarily spread by homosexuals in the U.S. Now, I know in my area (DC) this falls under the Super Not True category, and while I'm not certain I would be willing to bet that it's not true elsewhere, either. But the big moment of confusion is, What the fuck does the US rates and means of infection have to do with the presentation of an HIV+ muppet to South African kids? #sesamestreet
My dad did HIV research when I was a little kid, and by the time I was 10, I'd gone to several HIV research conferences, awareness events, pride parades, etc. My dad never hid the "realities of the virus" from me, and I don't remember ever feeling traumatized (The Hot Zone and Outbreak, though, are a different story).
My dad was also careful to destigmatize the disease in an age when rumors were flying fast and furious. #sesamestreet
@lp8790: I couldn't sleep through the night for weeks after I read that book. At one point, I woke my dad up in the middle of the night to ask him if he though my skin was disintegrating from Ebola (at this time, he happened to work at the only center in the country that handles the Ebola virus - FEAR). #sesamestreet
I grew up in the 80's, when they still didn't know that much about AIDS. So I learned about it when I was in kindergarten because a lot of IV drug users peppered the schools playground with used needles at night. They need to keep the kids from picking them up, or telling someone if they got stuck with one.
I was about...4. And we continued to learn about it every year I was in school, because my school system started health classes that included sex ed in about 2nd grade.
And didn't a recent study just find that AIDS is the leading cause of death among young women worldwide? That would seem like something that's likely to effect a lot of children, whether we think they're ready for it or not.
I'm just not in favor of acting like kids should be "protected" from reality. Life isn't one big fun-fest. I'm not saying we should depress the shit out of them every day, but acting like kids can't handle anything important/serious is making less and less informed and tolerant adults. #sesamestreet
Her dribbling skills are only matched by the frilly pinkness of her dress. Defenders of the blue team: watch out for the Pepto Bismol forward! The princess outfit is only a smoke screen. #footballforhope
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But I used to sneak my stepmom's People magazines, and I watched the made-for-TV movie with Lukas Haas when it came out, and I was so upset by the whole thing. Not just that he had this fatal illness through no fault of his own, but that other people were so cruel about it. I mean, I was old enough to know that people could be real dicks to each other - I knew about slavery and the civil rights movement and sexism and sex abuse and ugly divorces and custody battles - but even so, the language used to discuss people with AIDS was shocking to me.
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Anything that promotes tolerance for something that has been so stigmatized is a positive in my book.
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[pathmicro.med.sc.edu] #sesamestreet
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My dad was also careful to destigmatize the disease in an age when rumors were flying fast and furious. #sesamestreet
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I was about...4. And we continued to learn about it every year I was in school, because my school system started health classes that included sex ed in about 2nd grade.
And didn't a recent study just find that AIDS is the leading cause of death among young women worldwide? That would seem like something that's likely to effect a lot of children, whether we think they're ready for it or not.
I'm just not in favor of acting like kids should be "protected" from reality. Life isn't one big fun-fest. I'm not saying we should depress the shit out of them every day, but acting like kids can't handle anything important/serious is making less and less informed and tolerant adults. #sesamestreet
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