Garfield's a boy... right?
March 2, 2017 11:40 AM   Subscribe

 
But others chided or philosophized: “Why must we care what Garfield is or isn’t?” Jimmy King asked. “Who cares what someone else perceives as him being male or female?”

The question isn't about what someone "perceives him as". It's about CANON.
posted by thelonius at 11:50 AM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


“Garfield is male,” Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “He has a girlfriend, Arlene.”

Oh, Jim, you're a walking anachronism.
posted by klanawa at 11:50 AM on March 2, 2017 [47 favorites]




"...or, How Students Entertain Themselves During Midterms These Days."
posted by rhizome at 11:52 AM on March 2, 2017


True Garfheads know that the real contentious gender war is about Nermal.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:53 AM on March 2, 2017 [83 favorites]


Thank God someone from The Washington Post was there to get to the bottom of this. It's definitely the most important thing they could be writing about right now.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:55 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's the most important thing that doesn't give people panic attacks, 'tis true.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:56 AM on March 2, 2017 [16 favorites]


It's not like they stopped the National News desk for this.....they probably have a crossword and sports scores in todays paper too.
posted by thelonius at 11:57 AM on March 2, 2017 [47 favorites]


cats have probably no concept of gender and it's beautiful
I'm crying here.
posted by Etrigan at 12:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Hello Kitty is not a cat

She's a drawing of a cat
posted by capricorn at 12:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


I only read the article to make sure it mentioned Krazy Kat, the original and vastly superior gender shifting cartoon cat, which it did.
posted by ernielundquist at 12:01 PM on March 2, 2017 [25 favorites]


That Krazy Kat article is also amazing, while we're talking about cartoon cat gender identification.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


And let us not forget Bugs Bunny vamping it up for the benefit of Elmer Fudd. Elmer knew, man, he was just role-playing too. Count on it.
posted by Quindar Beep at 12:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


This appears to be mostly the old kind of silly troll, like when The Colbert Report got people to mess with the Elephant page, though there may be a few actually earnest gender theorists and angry culture warriors mixed in. I had a look at the page history and I see a few unregistered users making this change and being quickly reverted. Not much to see here, really.
posted by Artw at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


It makes no difference, because the one true way to appreciate Garfield is with no Garfield at all.
posted by madmethods at 12:04 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


The real question is Garfield Body Pam Head or Pam Body Garfield Head. (And in the latter case, Bill Murray voice or Lorenzo Music voice?)
posted by kmz at 12:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


@congress-edits Garfield Wikipedia article edited anonymously from US House of Representatives https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=768075902&oldid=767740142
posted by mcmile at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


Presented with new evidence, the satirist deferred to the creator. “He’s in charge of the canon,” Texas said. “I’m just curious how it squares with his prior statement … If I had the opportunity I would interrogate him.”

When I read this, I wanted to lie down, make small whimpering noises, and never go near the Internet again.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Whatever Garfield is, I kinda figured it'd been fixed.
posted by jonmc at 12:12 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Heathcliff did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
posted by rhizome at 12:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm glad that in this time of world-wide turmoil Wikipedia editors have chosen to fight such an important battle that will affect future generations.
posted by tommasz at 12:14 PM on March 2, 2017


Sigh. A creator innocently points out that his character's gender doesn't matter.

The world's (sadly predictable) response? "Fuuuuuck yooooou! Gender AAAAAAALWAYS matters!!!!!"
posted by Soulfather at 12:16 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


Presented with new evidence, the satirist deferred to the creator. “He’s in charge of the canon,” Texas said. “I’m just curious how it squares with his prior statement … If I had the opportunity I would interrogate him.”

When I read this, I wanted to lie down, make small whimpering noises, and never go near the Internet again.


If it makes you feel any better, Virgil Texas is a contributor to the comedy podcast Chapo Trap House (previously) and is 100% just fucking around here.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


It must be noted that the latest extension to the Garfield brand is a comic book series that teams up Garfield with internet meme sensation Tardar Sauce, the Grumpy Cat (who is apparently a confirmed female). But then, I always thought some elements of Grumpy Cat ripped off Garfield, which I personally addressed when I was being creative at a 'Garfield Mashup' comic.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


The internet should really be asking itself what was Jon's relationship with Lyman and why did Lyman suspiciously disappear, never to be seen again.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [21 favorites]


I also kinda addressed Garfield's sexuality in another comic I altered for Square Root: he's inter-species.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:27 PM on March 2, 2017


Just you're friendly (and persistent) nonbinary mefite dropping in to mention to no-one in particular that pronouns ≠ gender !
posted by FirstMateKate at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [20 favorites]


WHo was it that pointed out that a cat giving a shit about Mondays is really weird? He's a cat, he doesn't have a job.
posted by Artw at 12:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


I am a bit nervous about accidentally showing my ignorance here, but: could this have been avoided by removing the field for gender entirely and replacing it with "sex: male"? Everybody who's citing evidence about his gender seem to actually be referring to his sex (at best, and his sexual orientation at worst). Failing a strip in which Garfield says "I feel like a male cat" or whatever, that would be a solution, right?

I mean or just not having a field there on the Wikipedia page at all, but it seems like that ship has sailed.
posted by penduluum at 12:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have a related concern. Here we see America's favorite merchandising gimmick feline dressed up as a viking. Is Garfield literally a viking, or is this just some sort of metaphor?

Halp plz, need to update "his" Wiki.
posted by dgaicun at 12:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


ernielundquist, thanks for pointing out that Krazy Kat article! A terrific read.
posted by merriment at 12:40 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Lifegoal I did not realize I have until just this moment: get an irate internet writer to use the words "cultural marxism" and "genderfluid abomination" in a sentence, preferably about me.
posted by Mayor West at 12:41 PM on March 2, 2017 [15 favorites]


Also I would be much better able to grok this argument if I didn't read every word out of Garfield's mouth in the voice of Lorenzo Music.
posted by Mayor West at 12:42 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


It's not like they stopped the National News desk for this.....they probably have a crossword and sports scores in today's paper too.

My dream is for a future whose politics have advanced to such a point that cartoon fandom disputes belong above the fold on the front page of every newspaper, being the world's most dangerous conflicts.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:46 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


could this have been avoided by removing the field for gender entirely and replacing it with "sex: male"?

It could've been avoided by Wikipedia editors not finding it necessary to apply their ideological beliefs retroactively to a fucking funny pages cartoon.
posted by unknownmosquito at 12:52 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


why did Lyman suspiciously disappear, never to be seen again
Because he was never funny, had no particular role to play, and past a certain year in the early 80s the universe could no longer sustain the existence of his moustache.

Solved that for you.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:53 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Here we see America's favorite merchandising gimmick feline dressed up as a Viking.

I was hoping this was our segue into discussing Garfield: His 9 Lives but nope

I'll wait for it
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


I was hoping this was our segue into discussing Garfield: His 9 Lives but nope
I'll wait for it


Go for it. That was a fun book to work on.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:55 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


whoa whoa hold the phone, please expand on this?
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


The thing is, the early Garfield strips were really funny. When my son started reading longer books, I dragged out my omnibus of the first three books and now he is an 8 year old who loves Garfield (and my teenaged stepkids were pretty shocked to find themselves laughing at them too - they thought it was one of those "why is this in the paper, it's never funny" eternal strips). I have tried to explain to my son that it stopped being funny, and then became really unfunny, but he won't believe me. So much so that when he saw the animated series on Netflix, he watched them too, and still thinks they are hysterical.

TL;DR I have added to the world's ongoing Garfield problem. I am sorry.
posted by Mchelly at 12:59 PM on March 2, 2017 [12 favorites]


whoa whoa hold the phone, please expand on this?
Former employee.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:00 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


Did you hate Mondays?
posted by chavenet at 1:02 PM on March 2, 2017 [11 favorites]


WHo was it that pointed out that a cat giving a shit about Mondays is really weird? He's a cat, he doesn't have a job.

Welcome to episode #193 of Oh I Think I Was Tweeting About That At Some Point
posted by cortex at 1:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Garfield was fucking cool in the 80s there I said it and G:H9L is the unimpeachable exhibit A to back that statement up

Garfield & Friends was usually the best cartoon on Saturday mornings too

I still hear the Buddy Bears song in my head when I need to steel myself to contradict or argue with somebody I like and respect
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


I still hear the Buddy Bears song in my head when I need to steel myself to contradict or argue with somebody I like and respect

Binky the Clown.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:05 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Cortex is like some kind of fractal or something.
posted by Artw at 1:05 PM on March 2, 2017


Binky the Clown.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy CAT!
posted by briank at 1:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


My dream is for a future whose politics have advanced to such a point that cartoon fandom disputes belong above the fold on the front page of every newspaper, being the world's most dangerous conflicts.


Oh, sure- it sounds good until the cafe you're in gets blown up by Mallard Fillmore Militiamen or hard-line Marmadukeans.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:14 PM on March 2, 2017 [10 favorites]


ernielundquist: "I only read the article to make sure it mentioned Krazy Kat, the original and vastly superior gender shifting cartoon cat, which it did."

That article deserves an FPP of its own.
posted by chavenet at 1:17 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


The U.S. Acres crew are all gender-fluid.

No one remembers U.S. Acres, do they?
posted by percor at 1:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


I was literally going to make that exact comment about US Acres
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:21 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


What gender is Pogo?
posted by TedW at 1:22 PM on March 2, 2017


I am a bit nervous about accidentally showing my ignorance here, but: could this have been avoided by removing the field for gender entirely and replacing it with "sex: male"?

Hey, pendulum! No harm in asking questions. It is actually even more ridiculous to designate him by sex! Sex, when used in this argument, pretty much only applies to genitalia. As far as we know, Garfield doesn't even have any. Or, if he's like 99% of the housecats in the US he's at least neutured. Which pretty much means he's not meaningfully different than the female cats in regards to how his body works. But, again, we does his sexual function matter?

In a broader sense, making the distinction between gender in sex in the context of trying to force a binary, is still a bit problematic. there is not a sexual binary, either. But I don't want to derail. Feel free to memail me!
posted by FirstMateKate at 1:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


I loved Garfield as a tiny child. So much, that back when a friend was trying to get me to attend her church, I in my great five-or-six year old tiny atheist heart said, most sincerely, "I can't. Garfield's on at that time."
posted by PearlRose at 1:24 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


TedW: "What gender is Pogo?"

It hard to figure the angles on a wormchild.
posted by chavenet at 1:25 PM on March 2, 2017 [6 favorites]


The bigger Garfield question to me is whether non-cats understand Garfield. He's shown talking with Nermal so at least cats can speak to each other. Odie doesn't speak, so it's hard to tell if he understands what Garfield is saying to him. But do Jon and other humans understand him? Jon never seems to directly respond to Garfield's words, but he also does seem to react to them...
posted by Sangermaine at 1:28 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I loved Garfield as a tiny child.

No, that one was Nermal. You can tell because he's gray.
posted by percor at 1:29 PM on March 2, 2017 [8 favorites]


What gender is Pogo?

We have met the non-binary, and it is us.
posted by rhizome at 1:34 PM on March 2, 2017 [7 favorites]


It is kinda funny how, while the cultural generalization tends to put dogs on the male end of the spectrum and cats on the other end, therefore female, that the vast majority of Fictional Cats in Wikipedia, and the one note of gender fluidity is with Star Trek TNG's Spot (Data's cat): "Spot's gender is usually given as male, but Spot is a female in the episode "Genesis" and gives birth to a litter of kittens."
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also worth noting that the most recent "still considered funny" Garfield content is the cartoons almost exclusively written by Mark Evanier, who has written a wide (and confusing) assortment of TV shows, live and animated, and comic books. Most notable: Groo the Wanderer, written by Evanier and drawn by the legendary Sergio Aragones, the Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon, the Pink Lady and Jeff variety show, early staff work on Scooby Doo where he is frequently blamed for creating Scrappy Doo (which he explained in his longrunning blog), plus a career-starting job assisting comic book legend Jack Kirby where he decided he was better off writing than drawing.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:06 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Garfield has no gender because there is no Garfield, just a solitary man going increasingly insane.

I love Garfield without Garfield so, so much. It's like a good cartoon hidden within a bad one, quality hiding in plain view.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Wait, wait. Spot is an orange cat, with an owner who frequently suffers from melancholy and existential crises...

IS SPOT FUTURE GARFIELD!?!?!

Spot's thought bubble: "I hate Stardates that start with a .1... the replicator never has any Denebian lasagna..."
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:09 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


While Virgil Texas is trolling. I have a semi-related complaint about wikipedia edit wars. Back in December the LGBT Symbols page was defaced, possibly as part of an anti-ace campaign. The page went into arbitration, and now we have a page where bisexuality is conspicuously absent, partly because I gave up on a sourcing system where Mashable is more authoritative than Bi Any Other Name, Bi America, or any of the groups using the color scheme prominently.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 2:13 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


It is kinda funny how, while the cultural generalization tends to put dogs on the male end of the spectrum and cats on the other end, therefore female, that the vast majority of Fictional Cats in Wikipedia, and the one note of gender fluidity is with Star Trek TNG's Spot (Data's cat): "Spot's gender is usually given as male, but Spot is a female in the episode "Genesis" and gives birth to a litter of kittens."

Perhaps it was not birds who descended from gender-switching dinosaurs, but cats...
posted by Apocryphon at 2:34 PM on March 2, 2017


“Garfield is male,” Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “He has a girlfriend, Arlene.”

Oh, Jim, you're a walking anachronism.


Actually, speaking of Arlene, when this all started, that same infobox contained the baffling entry: "Spouse(s) - Arlene (girlfriend)", but now I see that they've changed it to "Significant Other", so at least they've figured out the difference between a girlfriend and a spouse.

The article is still a masterpiece of Wikipedia diction, which is usually delightful when it's trying to describe something extremely straightforward or trivial. I particularly liked "In his cartoon appearances, Garfield usually causes mischief in every episode," or "And for a very short period of time in 2001-02, Garfield would fall prey to an overweight dog assuming various identities (e.g. Bungee Dog, Warm-Up Dog, etc.), which would appear from out of nowhere and squish him in any direction."
posted by Copronymus at 2:37 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Garfield joins Casey from Mr Dressup (Canadian children's TV from the 70s) whose gender was deliberately never identified. The puppeteer says when kids asked Casey's gender she said "what do you think" and whether asked by a child if Casey was a girl or boy she always answered yes regardless of what the child had decided.

It turns out Garfield's creator also thinks it could go any which way the reader thinks. I like this. I also like how it makes (adult) people so uncomfortable.
posted by chapps at 2:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I wonder if Jim Davis has been forced to acknowledge Lasagna Cat's existence and recent revival. Between that and this satirist-orchestrated Wiki war, I wonder if in this month Jim Davis' previously syndication-funded tranquil experience has been disrupted by these outside agitators, Uber-style.
posted by Apocryphon at 2:42 PM on March 2, 2017


Nope.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:54 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


On the weekends, my cats' 6 pm dinner time often becomes a 4pm dinner time. On Monday, it is back to a 6pm dinner time. They hate Mondays.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Davis has reportedly been pretty chill and cool about (and definitely at least minimally aware of) all the weird Garfield shit people have been doing on the web, which I was happy to hear about back when Garkov was one of the things going around. I don't know whether or how much he knows about Lasagna Cat, specifically, but I'd guess if he is aware it's in a relatively genial, "well that's certainly creative" set-for-life-on-his-Garfield-millions way.
posted by cortex at 3:05 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


Nobody start a Dilbert-has-no-gender campaign.
posted by Artw at 3:18 PM on March 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


Well, he wears a tie.
posted by quaking fajita at 3:21 PM on March 2, 2017


This is amateur hour Garfield theory. Not a single mention of The Pipe.
posted by codacorolla at 3:26 PM on March 2, 2017


Does one's love for Lasagna, predicate gender?... mmm lasagna...
posted by Capricorn13 at 3:28 PM on March 2, 2017


Well, he wears a tie.

Well that settles it then.
posted by Bringer Tom at 4:03 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


No, but it does suggest a Mediterranean ethnic background, right?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:05 PM on March 2, 2017


Nobody start a Dilbert-has-no-gender campaign.

Dilbert (TV series)
Season 2 (1999–2000)

13 "Pregnancy"
Ratbert accidentally sends Dilbert's model rocket into space. When it returns with samples of DNA from aliens, cows, hillbillies, engineers, and robots, it rectally impales Dilbert, impregnating him.

14 "The Delivery"
Dilbert's pregnancy turns into a media circus as the various "parents" of his baby sue for custody, with Stone Cold Steve Austin presiding over the hearing. Austin guest-stars as himself.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:43 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


There was a Season 2 of the Dilbert TV show? We really are in the darkest timeline...
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


Well, she wears a tie.

FTFY.
posted by walrus at 4:53 PM on March 2, 2017


No one remembers U.S. Acres, do they?

Of course we do. Sure the first few seasons were kind of forgettable, but somewhere along the way it morphed into brilliant self-parody.

Garfield and Friends is on par with Animaniacs. Mark Evanier is a great writer, and he really deserves all the credit.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:57 PM on March 2, 2017 [9 favorites]


If it makes you feel any better, Virgil Texas is a contributor to the comedy podcast Chapo Trap House (previously) and is 100% just fucking around here.

The dirtbag left is working hard, I see.
posted by Going To Maine at 5:42 PM on March 2, 2017


Oneswellfoop, thank you for the link. I wouldn't have believed I'd want to read about Scrappy Doo, but that was fascinating.
posted by acrasis at 6:05 PM on March 2, 2017


Yay, this is how people in the First World put their university degrees to use when they aren't toiling underemployed trying to pay off their crushing student debt. We could debate something that would be useful to debate, but I guess that is not what academia is teaching the kids these days. I am sure there is now a special place in Hell where people like this end up going for their chronic uppity life-sinking.

Next up, that Gumby-shaped mold growing on your bathroom wall, what gender does it look like, and do I hold a death grudge if someone thinks its the opposite to what I see?
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 6:15 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


This is a well targeted bit of trolling.

I love that one side is resting on pronoun usage to support the male identity. ("Jim Davis, even when claiming Garfield is neither male nor female, uses the pronoun he"). Aficionados of useless pedantry such as myself are of course aware that uptight prescriptivists routinely claim "he" is *not* gender specific. They prefer it--nay, insist on it--over options like "he/she" or "they" in situations where gender is not known. Anyone who complains about "he" being used just doesn't understand educate English usage, apparently. ("They" is of course the correct pronoun for a single person of unknown gender. Jane Austen used it that way, you can too!)

But sure seems once it's applied to something really important, like the gender of a cartoon cat, the veil drops and they admit the feminists are right about the implications of pronouns all along. I have noted this for future reference.
posted by mark k at 6:39 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


It's a trick question - Garfield is actually an endless vista of despair.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:48 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


The dirtbag left is working hard, I see.

He's going after Sanders next
posted by Apocryphon at 8:07 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


If he gets word out that Sanders has been mis-gendered, that could totally change last year's campaign.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:33 PM on March 2, 2017


On the weekends, my cats' 6 pm dinner time often becomes a 4pm dinner time. On Monday, it is back to a 6pm dinner time. They hate Mondays.

Would a cat let lunch being slightly later on one day define its entire personality?

Okay, I think I answered my own question there.
posted by Artw at 9:19 PM on March 2, 2017


My kid watches the Netflix Garfield reboot and it strays so far from Canon so often that I can barely stand it.
posted by k8t at 9:52 PM on March 2, 2017


Who was it that pointed out that a cat giving a shit about Mondays is really weird? He's a cat, he doesn't have a job.

He hates Mondays because that's when Jon goes back to work. He might be a gluttonous grouch, but he really does love Jon.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:58 PM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Semi-related: in Cartoon Research's weekly Animated Anecdotes (third item): "In TV Guide magazine October 10,1992, Friz Freleng was identified as “Tweety Bird’s creator” and stated, “A lot of people are always asking me what sex Tweety is. I usually tell them I don’t know – it’s irrelevant, really – but, in fact, Tweety’s a guy.”

Other items: how MGM, owners of the Pink Panther trademark, sued a militant gay organization that tried to use the same name; "Jay Ward Shenanigans"; when Woody Woodpecker was part of an Oscars ceremony; a female rat cut from 'The Secret of NIMH'; when John Kricfalusi was fired from 'The Ren & Stimpy Show'; and Jean Vander Pyl (Wilma Flintstone) memories. Cartoons are complicated!
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:28 AM on March 3, 2017 [2 favorites]


Reading black-and-white Garfield compilations as a kid in the early 80s it wasn't clear to me that Lyman's moustache was meant to be a moustache. I thought it was a row of little tentacles on his upper lip. So his disappearance didn't bother me at all.
posted by Mocata at 3:02 AM on March 3, 2017 [3 favorites]


Lyman's body was buried somewhere on Jon's parents' farm.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:10 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Jon's basement, according to Jim Davis.
posted by Mocata at 6:36 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's the most important thing that doesn't give people panic attacks, 'tis true.

You, Sir, have obviously never taken part in a Wikipedia editing war.
posted by sour cream at 7:27 AM on March 3, 2017


Jon's basement, according to Jim Davis.

Of course he would.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:43 AM on March 3, 2017 [1 favorite]


Sex, when used in this argument, pretty much only applies to genitalia.

Uh, no. Down this road lies the madness of "sex change" and other bullshit genital essentialism.
posted by Dysk at 8:15 AM on March 3, 2017




A lot of people are always asking me what sex Tweety is. I usually tell them I don’t know – it’s irrelevant, really

Birds do not have external genitalia. It is not unusual to own a sexually monomorphic bird like a parrot for decades without knowing its actual sex.
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:58 AM on March 4, 2017


And the previously-mentioned (by me) Mark Evanier has made his statement about Garfield's gender, and yeah, he considers The G-Cat male (after all, he hired Lorenzo Music to do his cartoon voice*). A lot of other miscellaneous stuff in that blog post (remember blog posts?), about Trump, Stephen Colbert, Neil Gaiman, the Oscars, a recently deceased cartoonist and Jim Jefferies. And one more thing: Evanier is writing the Garfield Meets Grumpy Cat comic.

*massive digression: Evanier has done most of the voice casting on Garfield animated cartoons and has frequently used June Foray. who's still alive at 99 years old, started doing Tweety's Granny when she was in her 30s, and whose most famous voice is Rocky the Flying Squirrel who we ASSUME is supposed to be male... or maybe that's just what the TV networks in the '60s insisted. There have been no romantic plotlines ever for Rocky though there have been for Bullwinkle... in fact, I remember scenes when Bullwinkle gets infatuated by a female moose/human and Rocky "snaps him out of it". Now Rocket J. Squirrel, THERE is a non-binary role model (with apologies to Marvel's male alien raccoon with the same name).
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:15 PM on March 4, 2017 [2 favorites]


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