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In 1972, the actress Marlo Thomas and a team of collaborators brought the struggle for gender equality into the playrooms, classrooms, and backyards of America. Free to Be…You & Me, a groundbreaking children’s media project, challenged prevailing stereotypes and encouraged freedom of expression through songs, stories, and skits recorded by famous performers of the era. While boys and girls belted out tunes such as “Williams Doll,” “Parents Are People,” and “It’s Alright to Cry,” they learned new lessons about masculinity, femininity, feminism, and family life that reverberate and continue to stir controversy today. This interactive lecture and discussion class sheds light on the creation, popular reception, and enduring legacy of this legendary children’s album, book, and TV special. Audio clips, video segments, and photographs,will be featured, along with insights from the instructor's ten years spent researching, co-editing, and publishing the book When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made (edited by Lori Rotskoff and Laura L. Lovett, 2012). Optional reading material will be sent to students before the session but no advance preparation is required.
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