Memories of a ridiculous debate.
Back in the ’90’s, I had this part-time job. It was pretty much a slacker gig, doing telephone surveys at night. Yeah, I was that person interrupting dinner with those annoying phone calls. That job was perfect cause it meant no stupid office dress code. Anyway one night it was kinda slow, and someone mentions Hanna Barbera animation.
What started out as nostalgia turned into a heated debate about who was better – Penelope Pitstop or Josie and The Pussycats.
Seriously.
I took the position of Josie and her crew against someone who thought Penelope was better solely based on her looks and sexual appeal. The person defending Penelope the most – wait for it – was a man…yeah, it gets predictable from here. The man was Australian, and to be honest, I found him kind of arrogant. Had he been American, most likely today he would’ve been a Trump supporter.
My stance regarding Penelope was “Well yeah, but why would someone want to be a victim all the time?” Penelope always found herself in helpless peril, dependent on a man to save her. Meanwhile Josie and The Pussycats a) played their own instruments, b) according to the story line, was a successful pop band c) hold their own as they traveled through space, and finally d) still looked good while doing it. I mean, who wouldn’t want that?
Nope. According to the Penelope fan, Penelope was the prettier one, and due to that, she gets the prize. I disagreed. Long story short, the guy who was so into Penelope somehow got insulted. As this debate continued, he started to get a bit angry. No matter how I counter-acted with Josie’s merits, he stood firm. His only reasoning being this; Penelope was sexier.
When the guy’s voice raised, the supervisor had to break it up. I remained calm, but remember thinking ‘WTF?’
It’s a good thing this happened during the early ’90’s. Had this been posted online, all the seventh-wave internet feminists would’ve pounded him.
Unless you’re into bondage, I just can’t imagine siding with Penelope Pitstop.
That I believe, was my first encounter with geek sexism. You can laugh, or you can cry. It all depends on interpretation.
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