Is Big Bird from Sesame Street a female or male?

Male, I believe, though now that you bring it up there is something androgynous about the character. He is supposed to be a child though.

I heard there were plans to have a gay muppet on this show, but I don't know if that was a wild rumor. Have any of the humans been androgynous or gay? Michael Jeter and Northern J Calloway both of whom died from AIDS were characters on the show in the past.

Well I always was sure it was a girl, but I think one of the other puppets said 'he' when they were talking about Bird. I guess it has the same voice as the Grouch. That means none of the main characters are girls.

I always thought he was a boy.

Originally posted by sinatrastar
Well I always was sure it was a girl, but I think one of the other puppets said 'he' when they were talking about Bird. I guess it has the same voice as the Grouch. That means none of the main characters are girls.

There's a companion book to the series that talks about the lack of female muppets. There is at least one now- Rosita but they have been mostly male. There was one years ago who was discontinued because of some political incorrectness issue which I can't remember.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
There's a companion book to the series that talks about the lack of female muppets. There is at least one now- Rosita but they have been mostly male. There was one years ago who was discontinued because of some political incorrectness issue which I can't remember.

I can only think of one other regular that was a female--Zoe. A few others who weren't on a lot: Gaby, Frencheska, and Prairie Dawn (she was on more than the other two), and I think Prairie Dawn had a sister. But yes, that show ticked me off a bit because of the male dominance there. :mad:

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I'm 99% sure Big Bird is a male, but I can't think of any instances to name to prove it. When I was younger, I used to think he was a she, but I learned I was wrong.

In the earlier years there was a blond braided muppet. Was that Prairie Dawn? There have always been a lot of human females though. Of those Maria seems the most prominent and the one with the most edge.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
In the earlier years there was a blond braided muppet. Was that Prairie Dawn? There have always been a lot of human females though. Of those Maria seems the most prominent and the one with the most edge.

Here's a website that tells: http://www.sesameworkshop.org/aboutus/newsletter_article.php?contentId=75283&type=sesame

Betty Lou has the braids, and she looks identical to Prairie Dawn who has straight hair. I couldn't find any pictures of Betty Lou other than drawings, but here's Prairie Dawn (Just imagine her with braids, and you have Betty Lou!):

http://www.toughpigs.com/images/bookclubhemlock40.jpg

The website (http://www.toughpigs.com/bookclubc05.htm) I got the picture has a typo because it says The difference between Betty Lou and Prairie Dawn is that Betty has bangs, and Prairie doesn't. They must have meant "braids" not "bangs."

This topic is an OUTRAGE! Gender-roles are artificial! You are a sexist homophobe!

j/k ;)

The one that wears the BB costume is a man; quite old BTW. He wears a special equipment on his neck to change his voice to a 'birds one'. I've always watched BB and never thought about the gender of that bird:lol:

I watched Sesame Street for years when I was a kid (okay, I still tune in on occasion) and I always thought of Big Bird as a male bird.

I believe other characters have referred to him as "he."

Originally posted by jamesanthony

I heard there were plans to have a gay muppet on this show, but I don't know if that was a wild rumor. Have any of the humans been androgynous or gay? Michael Jeter and Northern J Calloway both of whom died from AIDS were characters on the show in the past.


I haven't heard about a gay Muppet on the show but in 2002 a Muppet that was HIV positive was put into the African version of the series. There were never any plans to put it in the US version and as far as I know, there still isn't an HIV positive Muppet.

Well, Big Bird is played by a guy. He came and spoke at my sister's college.

Thanks for all the info - looks like I was wrong about him being a her. He needs a testosterone shot or something...

Big Bird spoke at the college LOL, was the guy who does Ernie busy that day?

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Male, I believe, though now that you bring it up there is something androgynous about the character. He is supposed to be a child though.

I heard there were plans to have a gay muppet on this show, but I don't know if that was a wild rumor. Have any of the humans been androgynous or gay? Michael Jeter and Northern J Calloway both of whom died from AIDS were characters on the show in the past.

Northern J Calloway died of stomach cancer.

Big Bird is male. He is suppose to resemble a 6 year old. That is most likely the reason for his feminine demeanor.

Originally posted by Jen1989
There's a black version of Sesame Street? I didn't know that. When did they make that version?

The version that has the HIV positive muppet airs in South Africa. There isn't a black version of Sesame Street.

Here's a picture of the muppet. Her name is Kami:

How the heck does a muppet get HIV?

Originally posted by Brian Damage
How the heck does a muppet get HIV?

I honestly don't know, but since 1 in 9 people has HIV/AIDS in South Africa I think it's a good thing they added the muppet. It helps to teach kids about acceptance and awareness of HIV/AIDS. I don't think it would be a bad idea if they added a similar muppet to the United States version.

I heard that Burt and Ernie were gay and they were going to get married on the show.

Originally posted by Mrs. Ducky
I heard that Burt and Ernie were gay and they were going to get married on the show.

Yeah, some people believe that B&E were supposed to be a gay couple, but they were just like The Odd Couple - two different people trying to get along.

I alway thought of Big Bird as sort of asexual, if that makes sense.

Originally posted by Mrs. Ducky
I heard that Burt and Ernie were gay and they were going to get married on the show.
:eek:
They were always my favorites.
For the longest time I thought Ernie ws a girl. As a little kid I had never heard of guys living together and he does have a (somewhat) more girly voice than Bert.
Anyway, I don't think they got along well enough to get married, but then again I haven't seen it in awhile. Still, were they really going to do that? Two-year-olds watch that. The thought's just scary.