On Cross-Dressing in Cartoons

Bugs Bunny

Throughout cartoon history, characters have introduced children to cross-dressing characters.  While it's clear that these scenes involving characters "dressed as the opposite sex" are typically intended for comedic purposes, there are a few that seem to be attempting to make social commentary.  One of the most popular examples of this that I've seen has been floating around Tumblr.

The instance I'm referring to includes two screenshots from the popular PBS show Arthur.  I grew up watching Arthur and, while I do not remember a whole lot of social commentary on the show at that time, this example is fairly subtle.  Kids watching the show now might not pick up on the gravity of the brief exchange between Arthur, a male aardvark, and Buster, a male rabbit.

Putty Person and Dr. Night

While looking through an encyclopedia of various comic book characters to idolize, Arthur flips through page after page of characters he has no interest in.  The first of these characters introduced to the audience is Putty Person.  While the name of the character is sexually ambiguous, its image is almost decidedly male.  The character appears to be slipping between the slats of a grate, using his stretchy body to move between them easily.  Next is Dr. Night -- another gender-less character in name, but presumably male based on the silhouette portrayed in the book.  He stands over a sleeping, jailed criminal (the criminal wears the traditional black-and-white striped suit) menacingly, but is not actively showing power.

The comes Queen Sapphirella.  The name is clearly female in both sections.  Queen is inherently a female marker (at least as far as the most of the knowledge of the children watching this show goes), and the -ella ending further suggests a female gender (think Cinderella, Carmella, Isabella).  Despite these obviously female suggestions, part of the superhero's name is "sapphire."  Sapphire, of course, is blue -- a color traditionally associated with the male gender (at least in recent history).  The image of the woman hero is strikingly more aggressive and active than the two before her.  Queen Sapphirella fights a serpent which is coiled around her legs.  While she is clearly physically female, I would not argue that she is sexualized, as many female comic book characters tend to be.

Queen Sapphirella

The camera pulls back to reveal Arthur and Buster standing at the desk where the book is open.  Arthur exclaims, "I can't dress up as a girl!" and Buster replies, "That's kind of narrow-minded, don't you think?"  The camera resumes its position above the book, showing Queen Sapphirella wrestling with the snake once again, as if to emphasize her power and Buster's rebuttal to Arthur's protestation.

Arthur turns the page and Queen Sapphirella is quickly forgotten: Manacle appears on the next page, wielding a heavy metal ball attached to a length of chain.  He is not attacking anything in particular, but is holding a more active stance than either Putty Person or Dr. Night.

This very brief scene and Buster's even briefer comment is an incredibly subtle way of impressing feminism and gender stereotyping on children who watch the show.  Arthur, for the time being, backtracks some and chooses Manacle (until he discovers that Manacle is not all Arthur thought he was).  To make an entire episode blatantly about accepting cross-dressing, transgender, and transsexual individuals might be too progressive at the moment.  But this small step is important.

Certainly there are male cartoon characters who have dressed as females.  Both Bugs Bunny and Spongebob Squarepants have used this tactic for laughs in multiple episodes.  Arthur takes a more serious approach and, while probably coaxing a few giggles out of their child audience, they are probably also planting an idea of acceptance there.  And their parents, watching over their shoulder, might be willing to just water that seedling.

Spongebob and Patrick dressed in traditional gender-role
clothing.

Spongebob Squarepants has, in the past, addressed same-sex couple issues.  In "Rock A Bye Bivalve", Spongebob and Patrick adopt a baby clam.  While Patrick adopts the traditional male father role, Spongebob takes on the position of a housewife, who quickly becomes frustrated after Patrick contributes little to the household.  The episode manages to comment both on gender roles and same-sex marriages at once.

When I heard about "The Secret Origin of Supernova", I was immediately impressed.  With the new law in Arizona coming to a head and other issues popping up globally, that children's shows are willing to take on this topic is phenomenal and, quite frankly, brave.  Arthur took a huge risk in slipping this dialogue into their show, and I commend them for reminding children to have open minds.

"The Secret Origin of Supernova" can be viewed at YouTube.
Bugs Bunny Image from Bugs In Drag No. 1.
"The Secret Origin of Supernova" Images from The Secret Origin of Supernova.
"Rock A Bye Bivalve" Image courtesy of We Got This Covered.