(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Babe, the pig, was a girl. How would that revelation have changed things in 1995? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-05-06 1995, the year when E. Jean Carroll was possibly and allegedly raped, was the year Babe was released. Of all of the revelations I had during the E. Jean Carroll rape trial against former president Donald Trump from this week, the one that affected me the most, occurred when I was reading Kerry Eleveld’s diary, Trump wrecks himself in E. Jean Carroll video deposition, and I was running out of swear words to call Trump. In response to a comment by Arfeeto, I started typing: “Trump is a pig.” But, my typing fingers froze as if to protect me from my transgression. What I typed instead was: “I would describe Trump as a ‘pig,’ except it would be a terrible injustice to Wilbur, the pig, in Charlotte’s Web, one of my favorite childhood books.” Ninalyn responded: “And Babe.” I had to pause before I could write back because I’d only seen the Australian film Babe, once in 1995 when it was released, and I had taken my six year old son to the movies. While I remembered it as a feel-good film, and I was fairly sure that Babe was a male pig, I needed to research it because, after all, Babe is an unusual name for a male pig or person. So, I looked it up, and wrote the following response: “I support your right to mention Babe, but she’s not in the same universe for me as Wilbur is.” And, Ninalyn was as surprised by Babe’s gender as I was, so I responded by sharing what I’d read. “Sorry, but I researched Babe’s sex gender, she is a female pig, and this is confirmed in multiple sources. www.news.com.au/.... “In the film, it’s never said if Babe is a boy pig or girl pig and its voice was deliberately androgynous. But all the pigs were female because the male genitalia would’ve been too obvious on screen.” And, therein was my revelation: “Babe, a film that was seen by millions of people in Australia and worldwide, was a huge box office success in 1995 (possibly the same year that Trump allegedly raped E. Jean Carroll), but left most people thinking that the main character was a male pig rather than a female pig. Babe, which also received critical acclaim, was ultimately nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1995, including a win for Best Visual Effects, and won Best Film Score in 1996 at the APRA (Australian Performing Right Association Awards) in 2006. The same year, the American Film Institute named Babe #80 on its list of America's Most Inspiring Movies.” But, what if...everyone had known that Babe was a girl pig? Her gender would have worked with the plot summary, which was: “Babe, a pig raised by sheepdogs on a rural English farm, learns to herd sheep with a little help from Farmer Hoggett.” And, it even would have worked with the message that educators at the University of Texas at Austin wrote: “Babe is a comic fable about not fitting in and the lengths to which an ordinary pig will go to find acceptance. This fanciful film follows the tale of Babe, a pig who defies destiny by daring to be different, by daring to be, of all things, a sheepdog. All kinds of species live on the Hoggett farm.” Moreover, if the studio has been forthright about Babe’s gender, it might have had a far greater impact. Maybe generations of girls would have realized that anything was possible. And generations of boys and men would been inspired by a female character, and more respectful of girls...and women. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/6/2167842/-Babe-the-pig-was-a-girl-How-would-that-revelation-have-changed-things-in-1995 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/