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Everlasting Joy - What's wrong with Mr. Potato Head?
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I’ve been a Washington Redskins fans since birth and I watched in horror as the fabled Redskin moniker was scalped from my childhood team.

I’ve been a pancake fan since I could crawl and I didn’t utter a word as Aunt Jemima was removed from the packaging and replaced by the Pearl Milling Company.

It’s been said that it’s not the bad people of the world who are the true problem. It’s the good people who sit by and do nothing and allow these horrendous acts to transpire.

Thankfully, Hasbro has come to its senses about Mr. Potato Head. We can put away our picket signs.

The Redskins didn’t have a choice because major companies like Amazon were threatening to boycott their products. Aunt Jemima had a choice, but made the rare decision to change its name when no one was calling for it to change its name. 

I’ll still eat pancakes. And I’ll still eat pancakes from the Pearl Milling Company. I’ll just do it with a hint of indignation.

But the Mr. Potato Head thing caught me by surprise. Hasbro announced on Feb. 26 that it would be removing the “Mr.” from Mr. Potato Head to make the toy gender neutral. After backlash, the company reversed its decision a week later.

Here’s my gripe.

I realize the world has become a politically correct playground and we’re not supposed to offend anyone, unless of course we’re on Facebook or Twitter and then it’s OK to hurl insults at sixth-graders.

What I don’t get is how “Mr.” is offensive. We’re born one of two ways – as a male or a female. We can try to outsmart science, but I think in the end we’re left with those two choices.

So what’s offensive about being born a man? There’s only one other choice. By saying it was going to remove the Mr. Potato Head name, it seems Hasbro was saying it’s politically incorrect to be a man. What’s up with that?

A world where everyone is gender neutral is not a place I want to frolic. Late at night, I’m not going to snuggle up to an it. Give me my Cupcake!