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Snowy: Male or female...?

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jock123
Moderator
#11 · Posted: 16 Mar 2005 23:35
Slow down, Peveus - you’ll do yourself an injury!

I personally don’t see the effeminacy which you do, for one, nor can I see why you think it is important anyway? If you are so hide-bound to stereotyping that a pink bow is automatically a sign of effeminacy, well I think that’s a pity.

Personally a pink bow reminds me of Frank Muir, one of the UK’s most gifted comedy writers ever, who always wore a large pink bow-tie; he was 6'6" and built like a rugby player - not notably effeminate...
Aldora
Member
#12 · Posted: 17 Mar 2005 01:58
I ALWAYS thought that Snowy was a boy. And I don't understand why pink is automatically girlie. If that's so, in 'Ottokars Sceptre' Snowy wore a blue/green bow... so that makes him a boy... agian...
I know plenty of guys who like the colour pink, it doesn't sessinarily make them girls does it?
And on the note where Tintin does effeminate things, I (personally) never thought of it like that. I looked at it as more a posh way, or something. (Maybe >posh< isn't the word...) But You know what I mean........................
prestigidator
Member
#13 · Posted: 17 Mar 2005 07:22
Does anyone know what Milou means? Does it have anything to do with the word Snowy?

To put in my two cents -- I think Snowy certainly is a male, but I agree with jock123 that his gender is neuter (and thank you very much for making the distinction between sex and gender!). Additionally, I'm intrigued by this idea of so many characters having neutral/neuter sexual presences. Until jock123 brought it up, I always thought of the Captain as being distinctly masculine. And what about Thomson and Thompson?
jock123
Moderator
#14 · Posted: 18 Mar 2005 13:45
Welcome aboard, prestidigitator! Nice to have you here!

prestigidator
Does anyone know what Milou means? Does it have anything to do with the word Snowy?

It’s a bit off-topic, but the name doesn’t mean anything; it was apparently based on a nick-name of an early girlfriend of Hergé (see decimusphostle’s post above), who’s name I forget, but it was something like “MIchelle-LOUise”.

There are also theories that it may be a sort of play on the name “Milhoux”, who was a side-kick to Robert Sexé, a possible prototype for Tintin.

I’m not going anywhere near the question of the relationship between the Thom(p)sons!
Karaboudjan
Member
#15 · Posted: 19 Mar 2005 23:36
Tintin and Archie constantly refer to Snowy as 'he', so I think the question of his gender is fairly straightforward.

e.g- Flight 714: When Tintin's told by one of the villains (I can't remember which, off the top of my head) to shut Snowy up, he replies- "He's absolutely terrified."

... and even Jorgen says about Snowy, "He could make trouble for us later on." (Explorers on the Moon).

True, many people assume dogs are male (mine is frequently called 'boy' by strangers, even though her name is Phoebe), but since whenever gender comes up, it's always as "he", and even if it didn't, it's far more in keeping with the valiant, greedy little tyke's character... we can safely claim Snowy is a he.
snafu
Member
#16 · Posted: 20 Mar 2005 21:47
Tintin and Archie constantly refer to Snowy as 'he', so I think the question of his gender is fairly straightforward.

Agreed. Anyway, people sometimes put funny things on their animals for special occasions regardless of the nature of reality. For pets, I don't think there are male or female clothing (gender roles for animals as defined by humans, anyone?). Correct me if I'm wrong though.

So for me, Snowy is clearly male, especially since the characters describe the dog that way.
alcazar
Member
#17 · Posted: 22 Mar 2005 10:01
Whilst I'd tend to agree with most posters here that Snowy is male, I think the fact that "he's" referred to as "he" or "him" in the books is a red herring.

It's entirely possible that the translator ASSUMED that "he" was meant, since the original French would be "il" as the translation for "Dog" is "LE chien", noun masculine, so "il" would have been the normal useage throughout the books.

Alcazar
jock123
Moderator
#18 · Posted: 22 Mar 2005 12:20
alcazar
the original French would be "il" as the translation for "Dog" is "LE chien", noun masculine

Fair point, General, but then again it seems unlikely that he is called “dog” throughout the books; in English, we say things like, “Here boy!” Surely the same applies in French too?
BlackIsland
Member
#19 · Posted: 30 Mar 2005 16:55
Wow the things to analyze. The dog is a boy. I asked friends from France, and "Milou" means like "cute" or something.
Vicky
Member
#20 · Posted: 22 Jun 2005 21:35
Yes, Snowy/Milou is a male dog as many posts have already stated and as he is clearly referred to throughout the Tintin book series. This cliche pink-for-girls-and-blue-for-boys stereotype is getting rather old and was thankfully reversed on at least one occassion which happens to be the Disney movie "Lady and the Tramp" in which Lady gets to wear the blue collar and Tramp has the red one. Plus, I have seen sereral cute male dogs who are made to wear pink ribbons by their owners. People may also be confused because in the Nelvana TV series the dog's barking is apparently provided by a female voice-actor but this does not mean much: voice-actors voice characters of the opposite gender in many shows or movies.

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