Cerise Magazine

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Coin Heaven. spacepope4u now writes about pop culture on his blog, Back of the Cereal Box.

Had I asked this question ten years ago, the answer to the above question would be a resounding “no.” To be blunt, that Peach — who had then only recently shed the first name “Toadstool” in the States — was a big pink sissy whose primary function in life was to get kidnapped and scream “help.” Peach didn’t even have the honor of being the first leading lady in Mario’s life. That character, of course, was Pauline, who did about as much and at least got to wear a more modern-looking outfit. With her floor-length royal gown and odd, flipped-out Farah Fawcett hair, Peach was a dead weight character — a reminder of what a woman’s place was 50 years ago. She was an uber-stereotype of what women should be, injected into the Mario series to balance out the overwhelmingly male cast with a double dose of sugar-coated girliness. Read the rest of this entry »