#the Muddleheaded wombat

[thee-rat-king]

I JUST FOUND THE MOST INSANE QUEER REP

For anyone that doesn’t know, The Muddleheaded Wombat books are a beloved part of Australian childhood literature. They were part of my childhood, and when my sister requested a story today I picked “The Muddleheaded Wombat on Clean-Up Day” at random. But something I noticed, that I had never picked up on as a child, is that one of the main characters (Mouse) is never referred to as “he” or “she”, only ever “it”. It, It’s and Itself are spread throughout the book, all in reference to Mouse. Just now I’ve looked through several other Muddleheaded Wombat stories I have on my shelf at random and all of them use “it/it’s” pronouns for Mouse.

These books are from the sixties, based on a radio show from the fifties. What The Actual Fuck.

As a note, Mouse is never dehumanised (demousinised?) in the narrative. It has its own full personality, and is one of the three main characters of the story, along with Wombat and Tabby Cat (both he/him) who love it very much and the three of them have fun silly adventures together.

A second note: according to the Muddleheaded Wikipedia article Mouse is female, and i do remember it being portrayed with a more feminine voice in the audiobooks I listened to when I was little.

But ummmm canon it/its/itself character, as referred to by other characters and the narrator. Wild. I always knew I loved these books.

(Also Tabby is gay that’s not even up for debate).

#the Muddleheaded wombat #children’s book #queer representation #it/its #nonbinary representation #australian media #queer

[tinypiratebastard]

21 Questions

Thanks for tagging me, @stars-and-stripes-and-bucky

Edit: @the-doctor-is-ace also tagged me, thank you!!

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

A lot of people who I might have tagged have already been tagged so this won’t be 21 people sorry! Also... if I tag you and you’ve already done it sorry! 

And obviously no obligation to do it if I tag you and you don’t want to.

so - @urcadelimabean, @flintrage (did you already do this?! I have the memory of a goldfish). @hotniatheron, @ahotpeaceofshit, @autisticboyle, @zwergenmaedchen, @hostishumanigenerisbtch, @captainflirt

Nickname: E is fine! Bit private on here, sorry!

Zodiac: Scorpio

Height: 150cm (5ft). A GIANT.

Last movie I saw: Double feature, Paddington 2 and My Beautiful Laundrette.

Last thing googled: The Muddleheaded Wombat because I couldn’t remember the name of the mouse. She’s called Mouse.

Favorite musician: PANIC. Too many, so I’ll just say the last three I listened to: Bill Evans (jazz pianist), Bjarte Eike, Queen.

Song stuck in my head: Past Caring, by Jackie Oates. Very sad and very nice and very earworm-y.

Other blogs: I doooo have one where I put my writing (non fanfic stuff) but ahhh, scared to share!

Do I get asks: Sometimes!

Following: As in blogs I follow? 372.

Amount of sleep: uhnghhhhh. More please.

Lucky number: hm, don’t have lucky numbers! But I do like 7, 23.

What I’m Wearing: leggings, wool socks and a really soft jumper.

Dream Job:/Dream Trip: /Favorite Food: -

… look these three are very distressing because it reminds me that I am not really...enjoying anything/looking forward to anything just now. SORRY TO BE SUCH A GLOOMY GUTS.

Play Any Instruments: Piano and cello. And the KAZOO, toot toot.

Languages: English, German, Russian (still learning Russian), French (which I can understand and read fine, but I CANNOT. SPEAK).

Random Fact: All my senses are weirdly linked together, so sometimes (for example) shouting smells too pink and I hate it, because it is VERY distracting and I am already The Worst at concentrating for more than half a hot second.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: uh. Well. I suppose I feel quite wriggly, like a muddy old worm, sometimes squashed and curled up tight and sometimes bathing in the heavenly ocean of a cool, new puddle. I do /try/ to avoid the big stompy boots but as a worm, sometimes my tail gets a little smushed. (If I were a worm, I would have to wear a small hat so that you could tell which end is my head).

If I’m honest I don’t know what counts as ‘aesthetic things’ but I’m going to stick with the worm.

Or maybe the sea would be good.

#ask thingy #21 questions #tagged with me