Banter Bites

Gendered Potatoes? (Not A Recipe)

As George Gershwin wrote, "You like potato and I like potahto … Potato, potahto … Let's call the whole thing off."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It definitely confused Red as she couldn't imagine how the Potato Head brand, formerly known as Mr. Potato Head, could be the center of so much attention.

It's not that Red doesn't support gender-neutrality and the LGBTQ cause. In fact, both she and Black believe that how you see yourself is your business and that people shouldn't be discriminated against based on who they are or who they love. But what does any of that have to do with a beloved children's toy? (We're old enough to remember that originally you had to provide your own potato.)

And it became even more confusing as the name change was related to the brand, not the individual character as Mr. Potato Heads drops the mister, sort of. We always saw the toy as being gender-neutral (ok, let's be real, it's a potato, do potatoes even have genders?), but now recognize that today's kids might feel more comfortable with a Potato playset that's more inclusive and doesn't impose certain expectations on them and their creative freedom.

Of course, Black saw one more thing …

Not to make light of the LGBTQ considerations, but changing the brand to "Potato Head" instead of "Mr. Potato Head" means that "Mrs. Potato Head" is no longer a secondary character.

If you’re looking for a reason not to mow, there’s logic behind letting it grow …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: As is often the case, Red hadn’t heard of the latest trend, “No Mow May,” which is all about lawn maintenance (or the lack of it) until Black started sending her articles about it.

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It’s hard to imagine one holiday celebrates … spring, women’s fertility, workers, and labor rights. But it shouldn’t surprise you that even though it dates back thousands of years, we each “dance around” different aspects of May Day.

If you’ve never thought about May Day, don’t worry, most of us haven’t.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red appreciates that some holidays have historical significance, some have ancient traditions, and some are opportunities for one of Black’s unexpected, but often amusing and clever, comments, but May Day checks all those boxes.

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Spring’s supposed to be full of optimism as it represents a new beginning, with longer days, the trees and flowers blooming, the birds chirping, and a general feeling of rejuvenation. So, whose idea was it to rudely interrupt it with Tax Day? And the fact it’s April 18 this year instead of April 15 (when we ran the article below in 2021, we got two extra days) hardly makes it any less, well, … taxing.

This quote is perfect, except that we don't know who said it, "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It's probably a safe bet (yes, the IRS even has specific rules on how to handle gambling income and losses) that no one looks forward to Tax Day, but it would be easy to make assumptions that how people approach this potentially stressful day would be impacted by how much, or how little, money they make …

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