Looney Tunes

I'm guessing most people are fairly familiar with the Looney Tunes cast, but I'm also guessing few have stopped to consider its almost complete lack of female members. There were no females in the regular cast, and the only extras who ever made appearances were love interests for the regular group of males. Petunia Pig, various girl bunnies, a female duck or two, and the female cat Pepe creepily chased around were as close to developed, female characters as Looney Tunes ever got.

In the last decade or so, Looney Tunes has been criticized for plenty of other negative messages, such as its use of violence as a source of "kid-friendly" humor and its insensitive treatment of non-white groups. So adding this pesky women's issue feels, in some ways, like beating a dead horse. We all know Looney Tunes adhered to a different set of cultural standards than we expect today; at least, I hope we all know that. I am okay with allowing the memory (and reruns) of Looney Tunes to live on as long as we are all aware that insensitivity to women, minorities and child development is no longer desirable in a children's cartoon.