Tuszyn, Poland Uses Winnie The Pooh To Demonstrate Why There Are So Many Jokes About Them

Remember Truly Tasteless Jokes? Those books were a part of my formal comedy education, but they also sowed the seeds of racism, sexism, and homophobia in most of my friends in small town New Jersey. By far the most popular section were the Polish jokes, and they seemed unfair in retrospect... until now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter (link below), the small town of Tuszyn, Poland has voted to ban that willy, nilly, silly old bear, Winnie the Pooh, from representing a playground due to his "lack of a clear gender identity and a propensity for going pants-less."

Officials at a council meeting claimed that Winnie the Pooh is of "dubious sexuality" and is "inappropriately dressed" to be around children, given that the bear is "half-naked," according to the Croatian Times.

"The problem with that bear is it doesn't have a complete wardrobe," said council person Ryszard Cichy, 46. "It is half-naked, which is wholly inappropriate for children." (ed. I like to think of Pooh as half-clothed)

Another official said that Pooh Bear "doesn't wear underpants because it doesn’t have a sex. It's a hermaphrodite."

Council person Hanna Jachimska criticized Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne for having "cut his [Pooh's] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity."

Though it's not clear who will replace Pooh as the playground's new mascot, it likely won't be Tigger or any of the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood, nearly all of whom are completely nude. They can also cross Donald Duck, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, most of the Muppets, and just about every other beloved children's character off their list. They also made no plans to address who will combat the town's rampant Heffalump problem now that Pooh is off the case.

Via The Hollywood Reporter