Free to Be . . . You and Me (TV)

Identification Children’s record album, television special, and book

Date Recording released in 1972; program and book created in 1974

In an era when the women’s liberation and Civil Rights movements were gaining momentum, Free to Be . . . You and Me helped children learn to challenge gender and racial stereotypes and encouraged the development of positive self-esteem.

The 1970’s is often called the “Me Decade” in reference to the preponderance of inward self-absorption and a cultural preoccupation with the individual. Self-help books emerged, the fitness movement gained popularity, and segments of the population were beginning to demand, and oftentimes receive, new rights and roles within society.

Actor, social activist, and feminist Marlo Thomas conceived an idea that brought this focus on self-esteem and individual empowerment to children. After reading to her young niece, Thomas realized that storybooks and children’s programming seemed limited for children and dictated specific roles for them—usually defined strictly along gender lines. She asked friends in the entertainment industry to help her produce a record album that would open youngsters’ minds to the world around them and the myriad directions that their lives could take.

The result, Free to Be . . . You and Me, was released as an album in 1972 and was written with the help of actor-director Carl Reiner and author-poet Shel Silverstein. It was presented in short vignettes and used well-known personalities such as Alan Alda, Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Kris Kristofferson, Carol Channing, Rosie Grier, Cicely Tyson, and Diana Ross. Some of the vignettes were sung—“Parents Are People,” “Sisters and Brothers,” and “When We Grow Up” among them—and many more were spoken in poem or story format, including “Don’t Dress Your Cat in an Apron,” “Boy Meets Girl,” and “Ladies First.” Humor was evident in several segments, while diversity and the disruption of traditional gender roles emerged repeatedly as themes. Several vignettes explored the range of human emotions, such as “Glad to Have a Friend Like You” or “It’s Alright to Cry,” sung by husky football player Grier, who assured children that “big boys cry too.”

With the unexpected success of the album, Thomas set to work on a television special, which aired in 1974. The program used most of the material from the album, with live action and animated segments. Mainstream networks were routinely criticized during this era for showing children’s programming that contained violence or that held little quality content. Free to Be . . . You and Me was embraced by parents and educators as model television. The book was released in the same year.

Impact

Free to Be . . . You and Me was groundbreaking in its ability to translate a number of the tenets of the women’s and Civil Rights movements to an audience made up primarily of children. It also brought the era’s focus on self-improvement and self-esteem to its young audience. The television program won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Special, and it made a formative impression on an entire generation of children.

Bibliography

Fisch, Shalom M. Children’s Learning from Educational Television: “Sesame Street” and Beyond. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004.

Hart, Carole, et al., eds. Free to Be . . . You and Me. Conceived by Marlo Thomas. New York: Bantam Books, 1974.