Little Feminist Completely Drags a Comic For Being Sexist — and We're Living For It
British geneticist and author, Dr. Adam Rutherford, is not afraid to be "that dad" who brags about his kid's accomplishments. However, in the case of his 11-year-old daughter, Bea, whom he says he's "extremely proud of," his actions go beyond an I-have-to-be-proud-because-she's-my-kid level. Truth be told, we're pretty freakin' proud of Bea as well.
In an email that the young feminist wrote to The Beano, a British children's comic magazine, it's made clear that Bea doesn't think the way the magazine handles itself is honorable or fair, particularly when it comes to its female readership.
"I am writing this not because I want to write to you telling you what wonderful comics you do, but in fact, the entire opposite: how bad you are," she starts. "Why? . . . You are sexist to girls who read The Beano. And to any girl in the world, actually. I probably sound like a mad crazy lady (Editor's note: no you don't, girl), but I have my reasons."
Bea — the little legend that she is — goes on, clearly outlining her two reasons for dragging this magazine through the mud via email.
No. 1) I was skimming through an old Beano and happened to land on the advertising page where . . . you [were] advertising Guardians of the Galaxy prizes. You could win the WHOLE team of the Guardians figures with bobbly heads . . . as you could win the WHOLE team it meant you could win: Star Lord, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot. Ta da! The WHOLE team. Yeah, not missing out ANYONE or any of the female characters . . . oh wait, actually, you have managed to miss out the ONLY female character, GAMORA. Whoops! Silly Beano! Just a mistake (NOT)!
No. 2) In one of the latest Beanos (No. 3912) there is a page for an advertisement to buy [a] "Christmas Mystery Box." And because ALL girls like pink and ALL boys like blye and NO girls like gaming, everything is perfectly fine. Let's keep living happily ever after. WRONG! That is so sexist it's like . . . UNBELIEVABLY SEXIST! What if a kid is a girl but loves gamin?! Oh, sorry, little girl, but you can't have a Christmas mystery box because you don't fit into these sexist categories. (WRONG!)
Aside from the fact that Bea's citations of the particular Beano issues that support her claims are on point, we can't help but cheer over her candid sarcasm and wit throughout the entire letter. Although it's clear she's frustrated beyond belief, the young girl keeps her cool and continues, asking the Beano employees who will receive the email how they can simply "sit at [their] desk publishing this, happily humming away because nothing is wrong while people like [her] have to write letters of complaint," and shares that she now has no respect for The Beano because there are other comics out there, such as The Phoenix — "Look it up, it's a comic that's AWESOME" — that are presumably not sexist.
Although Bea signs her name after rallying behind another comic (that likely competes with The Beano in one way or another), the girl's clapback doesn't end there. "P.S. I sent an email about the same thing that you never replied [to], so if you don't to this one . . . I'll be annoyed," she wrote. "P.P.S. If I told you this in person I would have lost my voice by the end of it."
Oh, the money we would have paid to have seen that badass interaction go down! You go, Bea. Fight the good fight.