Men In Tights

Over the weekend, my kids got their first taste of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. They were absolutely awe-stricken. The villains were larger than life and over the top. The good guys won in the end, and the flashing swords practically had my son panting for more.

My Facebook page exploded in discussion of how the cartoon is just so gay. Besides taking issue with the use of that term, my husband and I had a talk about the impact of cartoons on our children.

In all honesty, if cartoons determined sexual orientation, not one of our husbands would be straight. Spiderman? Awesome unitard. Superman? Dude wears a cape and a pair of Speedos. The villains are right up there with their do-gooder counterparts. Most of their outfits put even male figure skaters to shame. In this house, in light of the hostile takeover by the Disney Princesses, He-Man looks positively macho. My son suddenly has a renewed interest in the lighted sword he received for Christmas. He never even noticed He-Man's bulging quads or the use of words like battle ram.

My husband and I, on the other hand, were in near tears on the sofa.

In no way am I worried about the cartoon "affecting" my son. He wants to wear nail polish? He gets to. He wants to read a princess book? Let's do it. He wants to wear a sword on his back and shout I have the power! until he is hoarse? Hell yes. He is three. I am going to blink and he will be thirteen, and I will look back and wonder what the fuss was all about. He loves cars. He loves dinosaurs. Yes, he happens to look better in pink than his sister does, but I know I am raising a confident son who doesn't have to worry that he is displeasing his father by playing with the "wrong" toys. I mean how can you say no to this: