A new Disney+ animated children’s series Baymax!, features what is believed to be the company’s first transgender character, buying tampons in a supermarket.
The Big Hero 6 spin-off, which is a series of shorts, stars the robotic nurse Baymax who tends to the residents of the futuristic, fictional city of San Fransokyo.
In the controversial episode, Baymax walks through the menstrual aisle of a supermarket on behalf of a 12-year-old girl, when he asks his fellow shoppers for help.
One such customer is a trans man, dressed in a transgender flag shirt, who hands him a box of towels and says to the robot, “I always get the ones with wings.”
The scene was shared by Disney Entertainment Studio’s YouTube page this week.
A new Disney+ animated children’s series Baymax!, features what is believed to be the company’s first transgender character, buying tampons in a supermarket
In the controversial episode, Baymax walks through the menstrual aisle of a supermarket on behalf of a 12-year-old girl, when he asks his fellow shoppers for help. One such customer is a trans man, wearing a transgender flag shirt, who hands him a box of towels and tells the robot, “I always get the ones with wings.”
Conservatives were quick to condemn the appearance of a trans character on a children’s show.
Texas State Rep. Bryan Slaton, 44, kicked off the criticism, writing on Twitter, “This is so sick and weird. We need to protect children from sick adults who want to sexualize them and let them be children.
Opinion writer for the Star Telegram, Nicole Russell has pointed out how uneasy society is around period culture as women are often expected to discuss it behind closed doors for fear of upsetting others comfortable.
She wrote: “I have four children, aged eight [to] 15, who would watch this and it would make them all uncomfortable. What is the point?’
Another said the period talk was about ‘stealing children’s childhoods’.
She wrote: “You are an adult. It’s a children’s cartoon. Children don’t need or want to talk about periods.
Rufo even accused the company of promoting “the idea that men can menstruate to children as young as two.”
The transgender character (right) can be seen offering Baymax a pink box of pads with wings, saying he preferred those. This is believed to be Disney’s first transgender character
When Baymax first asked the woman next to him (pictured) for suggestions, she seemed uncomfortable offering advice on what brand of tampons she was using
However, not all parents disagreed with the scene and pointed out that many young girls in the United States menstruate as early as 10 years old.
‘Children have rules. Statistically, at younger ages than before. Talking about periods and how to take care of yourself when you have your period in an early, non-scary way is good,’ wrote Twitter user L. McMill.
A dad named Karl has praised Disney for normalizing men buying vintage products for their daughters, wives and girlfriends, even though he admitted Disney had “done some sketchy bullshit”.
“It’s more like ‘normalizing’ men buying women’s products for their daughters or other women in their lives. Who [by the way], should be totally fine lol. Definitely did that,’ he wrote.
Disney recently announced that in future it aims to have 50% of its characters represent minorities, such as the LGBT+ community.
The company has been caught in the political crossfire since coming out publicly against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, which bans discussing sexual orientation and gender. gender identity up to third grade.
In the Baymax scene, Marvel Comics’ superhero nursing robot Baymax would help a girl named Sofia, 12, who experiences her first period just before a school talent show and appears to be taking menstrual products for her.
Many were smitten with the scene, saying it would make people “uncomfortable” and that it was “sick and weird”. However, some parents liked the idea of young girls, who may be menstruating as young as 10, learning about their periods and destigmatizing buying vintage products.
Earlier in the Baymax! episode, Sofia and the robot nurse discuss her rules in the gender-neutral bathroom, the New York Post said.
“I wasn’t prepared for this!” Sofia allegedly told Baymax. “And the vending machine is empty!” And I don’t even have anything! A tampon. A pad pon. A maxi-pad-pon with wings.’
The controversial scene shows Baymax standing next to a woman in the tampon aisle looking at the massive amount of products on the shelf, before asking her, “Excuse me, which of these products would you recommend?”
The woman looks completely shocked as she stares at the robot in horror before learning its facial expressions.
She replies, “Oh, uh…well…those are the tampons I usually use.” She then hands the box of Gentle tampons to the robot.
This prompts the entire aisle to step in to offer suggestions for Sofia, from wingless pads to winged pads, from products for early period experiences, to eco-friendly products.
However, many parents and social media users were more surprised by a transgender character offering a period suggestion than by being open to discussing the coming-of-age experience.
One woman suggested Baymax get Sofia pads because it’s “always more comfortable for me”, when a character – or a transgender flag shirt – says: “I always have the ones with wings”.
Although the moment doesn’t linger on the show – instead the robot is bombarded with more suggestions from a father and another woman in the aisle – Twitter users found the moment appalling.