Thomas the Tank Engine and Satire as Kids’ Lit

Photo by Mart Brouwers on Unsplash

So, to give some insight into my thought processes at times. Last night, I was riding a horse named Maggie who is an amazing horse, but can get very strong.

My thought process: “Maggie the Choo-Choo Train” (In the horse world it’s not uncommon to call a strong horse a “freight train”).

“You know, none of the engines in Thomas the Tank Engine are guys.”

“Well, yeah. The female characters are carriages.”

“They have no agency and can only go where a guy takes them.”

“Thomas the Tank Engine is really sexist.”

You can now mock me for never having really noticed this before. (And it’s probably the subconscious reason why I never liked the show as a kid).

So, About that Sexism

First of all, I decided to check my memory. Was it actually true that all the girls were carriages.

What I’m most clearly remembering is Annie and Clarabel, who always appeared as a team, were generally pulled by Thomas and had no personalities other than being impossibly and ridiculously cheerful.

But, I had forgotten Emily, who was the “only” female steam engine (Smurfette syndrome anyone). She was designed to be a big sister figure, apparently, but she’s also, of course, “bossy,” “borrowed” Annie and Clarabel (There’s something to unpack in there. Is there just sexism or is there something else going on here?), “impatient” and otherwise kind of annoying.

There was also Mavis, the diesel engine who’s pretty much the mom figure. But diesels are, ya know, Diesels aren’t as good as steam…

…oh dear, I just found the racism, didn’t I. They had a Black Mamma. They…had a Black Mamma.

…oh dear.

But racism aside, there’s something interesting to unpack about the treatment of Annie and Clarabel. They are coded as women, but they are completely passive victims. And when Emily “borrows” them and Thomas gets mad, do we see echoes of how a guy reacts to a female friend taking his wife for a night on the town?

So, were Annie and Clarabel merely sexist caricatures or was the author making a point? Especially as Thomas was…