conuly

Waa, waaa, waaaa, Seuss has been cancelled!

No, he has not, his estate has decided to stop printing half a dozen poor sellers. They sell poorly because, frankly, they're not his best work, but the publisher decided to make a little PR out of it by saying they're being pulled because of offensive imagery. Not that the imagery isn't there, but it's the profit margin driving this, and that is why they aren't simply editing out the offensive words and images (again). Though if this hullabaloo continues long enough they might "decide" to "compromise" and it after all... at least for Mulberry Street, which seems to be the only one of the six anybody claims to have any fond memories of.

(And no, it's not just like book burnings, you're not living in 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, thanks very much - wait until it enters the public domain and print it yourself if you care so much.)

That's nothing compared to the silliness around Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

Hasbro has decided to start selling this product under the name "Potato Head", though the actual potatoes are still called Mr. and Mrs, at least if you want to call them that. Cue the hysterical handwringing about how Mr. Potato Head has been "neutered".

This is silly but also very interesting. How has he been neutered? Neither the potato bodies nor any of the accessories have genitals. So if it's not the genitals that make the potatoes "male" or "female", what is it? What could it possibly be other than that their identity and outward presentation?

There's actually room for a very interesting insight into gender identity roiling in the middle of their hysterics. I think they even recognize it, explains why they're freaking out so much over something so silly.