# So WHAT is the Deal With Peppermint Patty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669 "2005-10-31T03:08:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bhoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@Bhoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bhoe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/61 "2011-11-29T00:56:58Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There was an early strip where Charlie Brown’s mother yells, “Charlie! Charlie Brown!” > > Yes, I know, the adults in Peanuts speak in trombone noises, but this was a VERY early strip. It’s weird she’s addressing him by his, their?, last name. :dubious: Was he in trouble? Peanuts brings me more confusion than delight. Speaking of weirdness, one of my dogs is small and black and white. She looks a lot like Snoopy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/62 "2011-11-29T02:25:06Z")
[Charles Bukowski on Peppermint Patty](http://www.progressiveboink.com/archive/peanuts-by-charles-bukowski/6.html) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/63 "2011-11-29T03:06:03Z")
> [@Bhoe](#): > > It’s weird she’s addressing him by his, their?, last name. :dubious: Was he in trouble? Peanuts brings me more confusion than delight. Not weird at all. My mom used to yell after me with my first and last name. You know, back when parents let their kids out of their sight and had to yell an identifying name to find them. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/64 "2011-11-29T03:23:50Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Yah. I mean, Lucy actually moonlights as a therapist, for Ford’s sake. She doesn’t make a very good living off of this, though. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/65 "2011-11-29T03:46:47Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Appropriate, since the strip is a zombie also. My newspaper could replace half of the dreck they print with ten zombie Peanuts daily, and I’d be a happy camper. Great strip. Oh, and Peppermint Patty is a tomboy. That doesn’t make her a nine-year-old lesbian. Marci I’m not so sure about, but I suspect she’ll grow up to be an asexual reference librarian for a third-rate thinktank in the United Kingdom and her neighbors hate her because she breeds a variety of dandelions in her front garden. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/66 "2011-11-29T03:48:24Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Not weird at all. My mom used to yell after me with my first and last name. > > You know, back when parents let their kids out of their sight and had to yell an identifying name to find them. Yeah, if Charlie Brown was in trouble, she’d have used his middle name. First and last name, time to get home. First, middle, and last name, time to not go home for about a year. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/67 "2011-11-29T21:47:29Z")
I never got the whole “Peppermint Patty is a lesbian” thing. She’s clearly got a crush on Chuck. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/68 "2011-11-29T22:16:22Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > I never heard that Charles Schultz was a fundamentalist. A Christian, of course, would not necessarily be bothered with the idea that people are gay. A small minority of Christians are closed-minded bigots who would object to the characters. I would bet that, had they not already become so firmly lodged in American culture, Pat Robertson would be leading a crusade against them. But again, what ignorant people think of his work happily had no bearing on Schultz I’m not sure it’s such a small minority, down here in Bible Belt land. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/69 "2011-11-30T05:20:11Z")
One casualty of out gayness in the culture is the idea that a tomboy could be straight. It’s just not something we consider anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/70 "2011-11-30T07:58:40Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > One casualty of out gayness in the culture is the idea that a tomboy could be straight. It’s just not something we consider anymore. :dubious: That must be one of those things that people are keeping from me. Peppermint Patty is the anti-Chuck. She’s good at everything that he’d like to be good at, including being outgoing and cheerful, but she’s still out of step. Partly that’s because being good at sports was considered to be a feminine failure and partly because she’s more than a little tone-deaf, socially. The personal vibe I got was that she was raised as her Dad’s Pal and just slightly pitied all those girls that didn’t have such a cool and interested Dad. Anyone trying to girly her up would be insulting him, which would make her mad. If she noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/71 "2011-11-30T15:49:04Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There was an early strip where Charlie Brown’s mother yells, “Charlie! Charlie Brown!” > > Yes, I know, the adults in Peanuts speak in trombone noises, but this was a VERY early strip. There’s also a very early strip in which an authority figure, out of frame, tells Lucy that it’s time for bed. > [@Yllaria](#): > > Peppermint Patty is the anti-Chuck. She’s good at everything that he’d like to be good at, including being outgoing and cheerful, but she’s still out of step. Partly that’s because being good at sports was considered to be a feminine failure and partly because she’s more than a little tone-deaf, socially. > > The personal vibe I got was that she was raised as her Dad’s Pal and just slightly pitied all those girls that didn’t have such a cool and interested Dad. Anyone trying to girly her up would be insulting him, which would make her mad. If she noticed. She was fine with the skating dress that Snoopy made for her, other than the fact that he forgot the sleeves. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669/72 "2011-11-30T15:58:55Z")
Come to think of it, Marcie might have been responsible for the armless dress and Snoopy fixed it. Don’t really remember. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-the-deal-with-peppermint-patty/328669.md?page=3)