I certainly agree that teasing and bullying, as the result of any kind of difference, is hurtful and should be discouraged, and that we often miss the sterling qualities of the people around us (like Elmer's bravery) by putting derogatory labels on them (like 'sissy'). I approve of the message, of course, that children should be themselves and follow their own interests, even if this leads them out of the spectrum of 'normal' behavior, for their sex and gender. But when his father is injured by hunters, this 'sissy' duckling isn't afraid to step in.Īs is often the case, with this sort of overtly message-driven children's book, there is a mix of good and bad (or, perhaps not bad, so much as not as good) in The Sissy Duckling. Desperately unhappy at this point, Elmer runs away, deciding not to accompany the other ducks south on their yearly migration. Even worse, his own father disapproves of him, and soon he and Elmer's mother are having tense, late-night discussions on the subject.

My, how times have changed! From a mark of shame (one which involves a threat of familial excommunication), in Friskey's tale, being known as a 'sissy duckling' has been transformed, in Feirstein's, into a declaration of pride.Įlmer, the duckling in question, marches to a different drummer in this story: more interested in baking, than boxing, and in puppet theater, than football, he soon has a reputation as a 'sissy,' and becomes a target for the school bully, Drake Duckling. Show More castigated his seventh offspring as a 'sissy,' due to his inability to dive.

The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein