The Case of Peppermint Patty
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We watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving tonight and, as Snoopy was throwing plates around the table like frisbees, I took a peek at Twitter and saw that Lisa had been watching with her kid who wanted to know if Peppermint Patty and Marcie were lesbians.
Now, I do not believe in outing as I have made very clear in the past but I'm not above speculating about a fictional character.
I would argue that both Peppermint Patty and Marcie are lesbians though neither of them have figured it out themselves.
Exhibit A - Clothing: Peppermint Patty was the first girl to be shown wearing shorts in the Peanuts comic strip. Marcie was the second character to do so. All of the other girls wore dresses. Girls who wear pants are not necessarily queer, obviously. Girly girls can be gay too (Maybe Lucy is hiding something which is why she is so crabby and unhappy all the time). But, androgynous style and practical footwear are pretty common among lady lovers.
Exhibit B - Softball: Peppermint Patty is the captain of the softball team and the star pitcher. Lesbian. Softball. Enough said.
Exhibit C - Relationship to Marcie: Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Marcie and Peppermint Patty. They are always together. Marcie is always looking at Peppermint Patty with such admiration and addresses her primarily as "sir". Peppermint Patty relies on Marcie to help her navigate social relationships and Marcie gladly does her bidding. I would argue that Marcie has a crush on Peppermint Patty (though she isn't aware of it) and I think Peppermint Patty is just generally clueless. I saw this dynamic in pre-lesbians all the time in college.
Exhibit D - Crushes: Both Peppermint Patty and Marcie have crushes on Charlie Brown. Let's be real here...Charlie Brown is a nice but bland guy and the kind that girls have crushes on because it feels safe. Neither Peppermint Patty and Marcie are in touch with their feelings at all so they just pick Charlie Brown randomly to crush on. Plus, if they both really felt anything for him, wouldn't they be competing in some way for his attention? Wouldn't they have moments of tension because they both have feelings for the same boy? They would and they don't so it's pretty obvious they don't really give a darn about Charlie Brown.
I predict that Peppermint Patty and Marcie went to college, got drunk after a softball game and made out. They both immediately realized that they had been in love all along. After graduation, they moved to Portland, Oregon, rented a small house and got a black lab. Marcie is getting an advanced degree in library science and Peppermint Patty became a gym teacher. The end.
By the way, as I was searching for images for this post, I ran across Peppermint Patty/Marcie fan fiction. That's right - there are Patty/Marcie shippers out there which proves there is truly fanfic for everyone.
