I Love My Hair Video is About Self Acceptance

Last month I chastised Sesame Street because they did not air the Katy Perry video with Elmo.  This month, I applaud Sesame Street for airing a wonderful video piece entitled I Love My Hair.  While the Muppet in the video is supposed to represent a young African American child, the fact of the matter is that this Muppet could represent anyone who wonders if they ‘measure up’ to an artifical standard.  In a country, where a Barbie doll is the accepted benchmark for female beauty, this video stresses self-acceptance and to some extent self-empowerment. In short, you are beautiful no matter what you look like if you believe yourself to be so. And others will find you beautiful because of that. Sadly (and wrongly), Madison Avenue challenges this thought everyday. But it doesn’t make the thought wrong.

I smile every time I watch this video and think to myself that if more of us loved ourselves and the things that make us unique the way this Muppet loves her hair the world would be a better place.  The story of the creator of this video, Joey Mazzarino, and how it came to be can be found here.