A local playground in Poland has banned Winnie the Pooh, the storybook character made famous by cartoon animation specials and spin-off toys and teddies, over his "inappropriate" dress and "dubious sexuality".
Several councillors debated the beloved bear's attire and lack of genitalia during a meeting in the small town of Tuszyn in Central Poland. The councillors insisted that Winnie the Pooh was not the right role model for children because he is a "hermaphrodite".
"The problem with that bear is it doesn't have a complete wardrobe. It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children.[Poland's fictional bear] is dressed from head to toe, unlike Pooh, who is only dressed from the waist up," Coun. Ryszard Cichy said, the National Post reports.
An unknown councillor said, ""It doesn't wear underpants because it doesn't have a sex."
The meeting was secretly recorded by one of the councillors present there and leaked to the local media, the Croatian Times reports.
In the recording, one can also hear a female councillor raising questions about the creator of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne. Adamant that her fellow councillors need to be educated not only about the cartoon character, but also about the creator of the character, Hanna Jachimska said: "This is very disturbing but can you imagine — the author was over 60 and cut [Pooh's] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity," The Independent reports.
The councillors have not yet decided as to who will be the patron of the children's playground, but it is certain Winnie the Pooh is not one of the probable characters.
However, a local survey revealed that not everyone echoed the same thought. The survey by Poland's news program TTV was based on the views of local residents who did not have a problem with Pooh's attire.
