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8 Transgendered Cartoon Characters By Ivana Wynn [12 more lists]
Cartoons were originally meant to entertain innocent children's minds but writers and creators have strayed off the path by making cross-dressing one of the cartoon world's most common gimmicks, not that there is anything wrong with that. Whether America's favorite characters are cross-dressing to defeat their enemy or just because they enjoy disguising themselves as the opposite sex, you have to wonder if they aren't in between genders or at the very least, reconsidering their sexuality.
These 8 transgendered cartoon characters break the mold in terms of their sexuality and sexual identity. They show viewers that it's OK to be yourself, whatever that is. While some viewers will be too young to understand what is going on and simply giggle at the cross-dressing characters, others will learn that personal expression is acceptable. Either way, each of these characters are entertaining to no end and for that, we love them.
- 1
It's no secret that America's favorite cartoon character Bugs Bunny has one very popular go-to trick for deceiving his enemies, particularly that hillbilly Elmer Fudd. Looney Tunes character Bugs feels no shame in seducing his foes by dressing as a woman, anywhere from a schoolgirl to a geisha and Norse Valkyrie. He ferociously bats his eyelashes and gets uncomfortably close to their face to distract them, daring to kiss them sometimes.
In ""What's Opera, Doc?"" Bugs Bunny even gets the stern and violent Elmer Fudd to perform ballet with him. Some of his favorite pastimes include styling hair, giving manicures and letting shoe salesmen tickle his feet.
We can admit that Bugs cross dresses for a good purpose but as a cartoon character, he has the potential to come up with any number of tricks and yet he still chooses to dress in drag. Looks like Bugs gets a little too much pleasure from getting all dolled up to be considered a straight bunny. -
- 2
Mr. Garrison, the teacher at South Park Elementary who uses puppets like Mr. Hat and Mr. Twig to teach, has one of the most complicated sexualities in TV history.
Before his sex change in season 9, he finally begins to accept his homosexuality and even has a lover, Mr. Slave. In "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina," Mr. Garrison tells Dr. Biber that he has always been a woman on the inside and that getting a sex change is his last chance at happiness. So he becomes Ms. Janet Garrison.
However, when Ms. Garrison finds out that vaginoplasty doesn't include reproductive organs, that she has no period and can't get pregnant, she is disappointed. She carries on several lesbian relationships before deciding she wants to be a man again. She pays for a laboratory to grow a penis on a mouse and gets a second sex change. He has remained that way since but who knows how long it'll be before he gets another one. - 3
Yes, Stewie Griffin is only one year old but Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane has said his sexuality has been left ambiguous on purpose and thus, he is literally transgendered for now. Being a toddler, Stewie has the freedom to explore his options and learn what he really likes.
In one episode, Stewie has a fantasy of himself frolicking on the beach with his teddy bear Rupert, who has a muscular male body and a teddy bear head. They splash water at each other and lay side by side on the sand. In "Stew-Roids" Stewie he plays with Barbies and voices them, talking about fashion and boyfriends. Susie, the Swansons' infant, beats him up and he cries.
Stewie also enjoys cross dressing. In "Go, Stewie, Go!" he becomes Karina Smirnoff in order to audition for Jolly Farm Revue. He is able to fool Brian into thinking he's a woman at a bar and comes on to him. When he becomes his alter ego Desiree and goes to dinner with Brian to help him make a girl jealous, several men at the restaurant recognize Desiree. In "Boys Do Cry," Stewie becomes "Stephanie Griffin" to protect himself from some priests that want to exorcise him because they think he is possessed by Satan. The Griffins flee to Texas, where Stewie enters a Little Miss Texas pageant and manages to win. He tells Brian that he "feels right" in his female disguise.
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- 4
Peppermint Patty and Marcie (Peanuts)
Peppermint Patty and Marcie's relationship has been one of the most talked about friendships in cartoon history. The two girls claim to have a crush on Charlie Brown in the show but maybe it's just a cover up for their affection for one another. Both girls act, sound and look more like guys.
Peppermint Patty wears a collared and striped green shirt with blue gym shorts and green flip flops, which makes her look like a laid-back dude. Plus, she's good at baseball.
Marcie wears round glasses and her outfit is all red, which means she has very little fashion sense and she calls Peppermint Patty "sir." She enjoys teasing Peppermint Patty when she's at camp with Charlie Brown, telling Patty that she's spending a lot of time with him to make her jealous.
In a Family Guy episode, Peter goes to visit them at their house, where they live together as a couple.
The BFFs have also inspired artists to draw them as an adult lesbian couple:
- 5 It may be difficult for an alien to be considered transgendered but since he calls himself Roger and dresses in guy clothes, we can assume he is a guy most of the time. This American Dad character has been known to question his sexuality however, asking himself if he really likes girls.
Roger's most famous alter egos are Laura Vanderbooben and a wedding planner named Jeannie Gold. He becomes Laura Vanderbooben to get sexually harassed at work and be able to sue the company for a settlement. In one scene, he struts through the office in a tight outfit, swaying his hips, but none of the men turn to look at him.
As Jeannie Gold, a former prostitute in Argentina, Roger helps Stan and Francine renew their wedding vows. In another episode, Roger gets a waitress job on a cruise ship where the Smiths are taking a vacation and dresses like Olivia Newton John and sings her hit Xanadu.
Roger and Stan have many intimate moments, from Roger telling him he needs him when they're both drunk to acting in a play called "Pinata Man" together. Roger steals the female leading role and dresses up as a senorita. He rips Stan's shirt off, licks his chest and lets Stan lick his feet. They both get arrested for public indecency right after the show. In another episode, Stan and Francine find Roger dressed as a princess. Stan thinks he needs a kiss from a prince to wake up and Roger shoves his tongue down Stan's throat.
Either aliens get a pass since well, they are aliens, or Roger has some gender identity issues.
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8 Transgendered Cartoon Characters at 3/02/2012 4:29 PM
Peppermint Patty and Marcie might be lesbians, but that doesn't make them transgender. Hell, they're not even cross-dressers. Bugs cross-dresses like most of the other characters you've described for one simple reason- it makes people laugh to see men in women's clothing.
Mr. Garrison's transsexual nature (because not all transgender people are transsexual) is problematic because he is in all actuality a gay man. Everyone knows this in South Park, but Mr. Garrison has always had a very difficult struggle coming to terms with that. For him, being a woman would stop him from having perverse homosexual thoughts.
As for others, just because they are seemingly gay does not make them transgender. Cross-dressing is normal for babies and children to do as they explore different things anyway (Stewie is a baby, after all), Roger....well he's an alien. And we're presuming he's male; to my knowledge he's rather ambiguous when it comes to his gender.
With Him, no that is not a definition of a cross-dresser's wardrobe. I remember watching PPG when I was younger, and Him was just a villain. PPG villains were all decidedly not scary, because it's a kid's show. And again, the public thinks cross-dressers are funny. What better way to alleviate fear, and Him was certainly the scariest, than to make them laugh at his appearance?
Just because America changes a character from male to female doesn't make them transgender. They do that all the time in Japanese-based anime. Jesse & James are just phenomenal goof-balls and great to watch. As far as Sailor Moon goes, they altered that cartoon alot when it came here.
Cross-dressing can be done by heterosexual men too, so hinting their sexuality might be gay is a little presumptuous. And cross-dressers very rarely (some do, but the majority would not) call themselves transgender. Transgender is generally used to refer to someone who is changing their physical state to fit in line with how they see themselves where as cross-dressers don't see themselves as women (if they are men) or as men (if they are women).
8 Transgendered Cartoon Characters at 2/12/2012 4:23 PM