Pepe Le Pew cartoon accused of ‘adding to rape culture’ after Dr Seuss canceled over racism scandal
CARTOON skunk Pepe Le Pew has been accused of “adding to rape culture” in a new column, just days after Dr Seuss was involved in a racism scandal.
Charles Blow penned an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times that discussed things like racism and sexism in media made for children earlier this week.
In the column, titled Six Seuss Books Bore a Bias, Blow pointed out that problematic undertones were lingering in quite a few cartoons and other media made for children to consume.
“Some of the first cartoons I can remember included Pepé Le Pew, who normalized rape culture; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a heavyset Black maid who spoke in a heavy accent,” Blow wrote.
Pepe Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales are both Looney Tunes characters, while Mammy Two Shoes appeared in Tom and Jerry.
Blow’s column went on to point out that it’s important to acknowledge that racial biases can be ingrained into very young children, and to applaud the company that publishes Dr Seuss’ books for pulling six books from future publication due to racist imagery and content within them.
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the company said of its decision. The books had been accused of containing content that was offensive to black and Asian people.
“I cheered as some bemoaned another victim of so-called ‘cancel culture,'” Blow wrote.
However, his opinions – particularly that on Pepe Le Pew and rape culture – were met with quite a bit of backlash online.
Blow took to Twitter to respond, and to back up his assertions about the Looney Tunes character.
“RW blogs are mad bc I said Pepe Le Pew added to rape culture. Let’s see. 1. He grabs/kisses a girl/stranger, repeatedly, w/o consent and against her will,” he wrote.
“2. She struggles mightily to get away from him, but he won’t release her 3. He locks a door to prevent her from escaping.
“This helped teach boys that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no, that it was a part of ‘the game’, the starting line of a power struggle,” he continued.
“It taught overcoming a woman’s strenuous, even physical objections, was normal, adorable, funny. They didn’t even give the woman the ability to SPEAK.”
Hundreds of users were quick to offer counterarguments, with one who goes by the handle @siristone pointing out that Pepe Le Pew is “an animated skunk,” “he never rapes the cat,” and finishing off her points with “Get a life. Turn off the TV.”
Most read in News
Others pointed out that Blow is not the first person to call Pepe Le Pew a creep, noting that Dave Chappelle took a dig at the cartoon during his stand-up years ago.
Chappelle was doing a bit about the things in cartoons that children don’t pick up on, and spoke about watching a Pepe Le Pew skit with his nephew.
“I’m watching Pepe Le Pew, and I’m old now, and I’m like, good God, what kind of f***ing rapist is this guy?”