Moominsummer Madness, Tove Jansson

[mmcirvin]

Back in July, my kid and I read Tove Jansson's second Moomin book (and the first really well-known one), Comet in Moominland, as bedtime reading. At the time, I noted that, despite Jansson's reputation as a queer/feminist author, the gender roles in that early book are for the most part quite conventional: there are only two major female characters

Comments

[mihai_lado]

Well, I always wondered a bit about Thingumy and Bob...

[mmcirvin]

Yeah, Vanapagan's comment at the second link claims their original names (Tofslan and Vifslan) refer to Tove Jansson herself and her girlfriend Vivica Bandler. (The better-known case is Too-ticky from Moominland Midwinter, probably based on Jansson's partner of the time, Tuulikki Pietilä.)