A New York Times columnist has called out Looney Tunes character Pepé Le Pew for normalising rape culture. 

Last week, Charles M. Blow penned a piece commending Dr Seuss Enterprise’ recent decision to cease printing six books that featured racist imagery.

Within the piece, Blow also called out a number of childrens’ cartoons that he believes have perpetuated racial stereotypes and sexual harassment.

“Some of the first cartoons I can remember included Pepé Le Pew, who normalised rape culture; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a heavyset Black maid who spoke in a heavy accent,” he wrote.

As reported by Consequence of Sound, it didn’t take long for anti-cancel culture commentators to lambast Blow over the piece. In response to the criticism, Blow took to Twitter to further explain his argument regarding Pepé Le Pew.

“RW blogs are mad bc I said Pepe Le Pew added to rape culture. Let’s see. 1. He grabs/kisses a girl/stranger, repeatedly, w/o consent and against her will. 2. She struggles mightily to get away from him, but he won’t release her 3. He locks a door to prevent her from escaping,” he wrote.

It appears Blow is referring to the character of Penelope, a cat whose resistance to Pepé’s advances was a running joke on the show.

“This helped teach boys that ‘no’ didn’t really mean no, that it was a part of ‘the game’, the starting line of a power struggle,” Blow added.

“It taught overcoming a woman’s strenuous, even physical objections, was normal, adorable, funny. They didn’t even give the woman the ability to SPEAK.”

Blow concluded his Twitter thread with a clip of Pepé attempting to force himself on Penelope.

While the creators behind the latest Looney Tunes series on HBO Max have yet to directly responded to Blow’s claims, it was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that Pepé will not appear in the upcoming Space Jam sequel. The decision to exclude Pepé was made prior to the publication of the New York Times column.

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