The GayBC's Are In, Dr. Sss is Out

THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS
‘THE CAT THE HAT’: A QUEER READGDR. SSS’ MASTERPIECE IS EVEN WEIRR THAN SEEMSJONATHAN POLETTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED ???????????·6 M READ·MAR 4, 2021--3SHAREIN THE LATE 1950S, A OBSSED WH NFORMY, A STORY ABOUT A MAGIL TERSEXUAL FELE WHO DO BIZARRE THGS WAS A MONSTER H.I’M THKG ABOUT THE CAT THE HAT, THE NOW-CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOK, STCK BY HOW ODD, HOW UNTER-CULTURAL SEEMS TO BE. AND THEN I THK ABOUT GENR—AND SEARCH FOR MENTARY ON THAT SUBJECT ANY OF DR. SSS’ WORK, FDG ALMOST NONE.THEODOR SSS GEISEL 1957 (LIBRARY OF CONGRS)HE’D SEEMED TO HAVE NO FEMALE CHARACTERS.THAT WAS THE BASIC ‘READ’ ON DR. SSS. HE’D WRTEN A NARRATIVE WORLD WHOUT WOMEN .DURG HIS LIFETIME, A FEMIST WRER BROUGHT TO THE ARTIST TED GEISEL’S ATTENTN. HE REPLIED THAT HE MOSTLY DREW ANIMALS — AND “IF SHE N INTIFY THEIR SEX, I’LL REMEMBER HER MY WILL.”IT MIGHT NOT BE SAID THERE WERE NO THEM OF GENR, HOWEVER. I BROWSE HIS WORK, AND MANY OF THE TS ARE CLEARLY IMAGED AS PRISSY GAY MEN. LOOK AT THIS QUEER LTLE FIGURE I CAN LICK 30 TIGERS TODAY (1969):IT MIGHT SEEM THAT DR. SSS HAD SMUGGLED MANY UNUALLY GENRED FIGUR TO THE DOMANT CULTURE—UNR THE VER OF FUN, QUIRKY ANIMAL STORI.BUT HIS MASTERPIECE WAS THE CAT THE HAT, HIS 1957 BOOK THAT BROUGHT A STRANGE FELE TO THE WORLD.HOW DID THE BOOK E ABOUT?
READG THE GRCH AS GAY TO PISS OFF DR. SSS
THE GAYBC'S ARE IN, DR. SSS IS OUT

THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS

* was dr seuss gay *

” It’s about a t who liv wh two gay men; you n tell by the book, then jt published, was evintly meant to help normalize already borgly normal fai like ours by g the tradnal substutn of animals for people orr to illtrate how much fun havg gay dads n be.

‘THE CAT THE HAT’: A QUEER READGDR. SSS’ MASTERPIECE IS EVEN WEIRR THAN SEEMSJONATHAN POLETTI·FOLLOWPUBLISHED ???????????·6 M READ·MAR 4, 2021--3SHAREIN THE LATE 1950S, A OBSSED WH NFORMY, A STORY ABOUT A MAGIL TERSEXUAL FELE WHO DO BIZARRE THGS WAS A MONSTER H.I’M THKG ABOUT THE CAT THE HAT, THE NOW-CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOK, STCK BY HOW ODD, HOW UNTER-CULTURAL SEEMS TO BE. AND THEN I THK ABOUT GENR—AND SEARCH FOR MENTARY ON THAT SUBJECT ANY OF DR. SSS’ WORK, FDG ALMOST NONE.THEODOR SSS GEISEL 1957 (LIBRARY OF CONGRS)HE’D SEEMED TO HAVE NO FEMALE CHARACTERS.THAT WAS THE BASIC ‘READ’ ON DR. SSS. HE’D WRTEN A NARRATIVE WORLD WHOUT WOMEN .DURG HIS LIFETIME, A FEMIST WRER BROUGHT TO THE ARTIST TED GEISEL’S ATTENTN. HE REPLIED THAT HE MOSTLY DREW ANIMALS — AND “IF SHE N INTIFY THEIR SEX, I’LL REMEMBER HER MY WILL.”IT MIGHT NOT BE SAID THERE WERE NO THEM OF GENR, HOWEVER. I BROWSE HIS WORK, AND MANY OF THE TS ARE CLEARLY IMAGED AS PRISSY GAY MEN. LOOK AT THIS QUEER LTLE FIGURE I CAN LICK 30 TIGERS TODAY (1969):IT MIGHT SEEM THAT DR. SSS HAD SMUGGLED MANY UNUALLY GENRED FIGUR TO THE DOMANT CULTURE—UNR THE VER OF FUN, QUIRKY ANIMAL STORI.BUT HIS MASTERPIECE WAS THE CAT THE HAT, HIS 1957 BOOK THAT BROUGHT A STRANGE FELE TO THE WORLD.HOW DID THE BOOK E ABOUT?

) And if you stopped to thk about , “Lucy” seemed to argue that the gay dads, however full of fun, were aquate: When the pa chips were down, they need rcug, too. Among gay-themed children’s stori, they preferred “Frog and Toad.

READG THE GRCH AS GAY TO PISS OFF DR. SSS

” No, I know: “Frog and Toad” — a seri of four picture books by Arnold Lobel, origally published between 1970 and 1979 — is not gay-themed. But ’s not not gay-themed eher. They get to scrap separately but get out of them together, which is not a bad fn of left: Jam Marshall, “Gee and Martha, ” urty of Houghton Miffl Harurt; Arnold Lobel, “Frog and Toad are Friends” © 1970 Arnold Lobel, ed by permissn of HarperColls Publishers; Jam Marshall, “Miss Nelson is Missg!, ” urty of Houghton Miffl HarurtOur boys loved the stori, as did we — but not bee Lobel was gay.