“GOOD GOD MAN! YOU ALMOST GOT THE CHEESE TOUCH,” we all shout in unison as our friend cracks open a baby bell in year 6 (at least I did, I wasn’t the brightest bulb). If you can’t relate, maybe you have at least exclaimed the phrase Zoo Wee Mama when whacking your funny bone on the side of a school desk or cranked up the sound to Löded Diper in your mum’s Mini Cooper. These can all be attributed to the popularity of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a series of books by author and illustrator Jeff Kinney. Having sold over 290 million copies worldwide across 19 books, the statistics speak for itself. It makes up the childhood of many members of the Generation Z community (myself included), and remains relevant today due to its dry, satirical humour that you would have thought came from a British mind!
Despite its popularity, not enough attention is paid to its shortcomings. This could be my woke agenda Media and Communications degree talking, yet to a certain level, the lack of diversity that the books exhibit, particularly earlier on, is alarming. I will be focussing on the original book, its sequel, Rodrick Rules, and its fourth instalment Dog Days in this article, where we will address these shortcomings and why this is potentially damaging.
The Nuclear Heffley’s
Let’s address the main dynamic: the family. Working father, stay-at-home mother, and three male children. Sound familiar? Try every traditional nuclear family model ever. For those of you who didn’t do a Sociology A-Level, the Nuclear Family consists predominantly of a mother, father and children who live in the same home. The phrase, popularised during the Cold War, demands the criteria to be based upon a male and a female parental partnership. This retrospectively does not represent a diverse enough sample of family types. There are no adoptions, same-sex couples are a no-show, and there is zero mention of any trans inclusion. This obviously frames members of these communities as unrepresented. Consequently, the children of these families may feel invisible and unincluded, which, during a time of crucial socialisation that will impact their adult years, is imperative that they gain from childhood literature.
It’s Not a Phase Mum
Stereotypically, the Nuclear Family model reinforces negative gender roles. It paints the men as the breadwinners of the household, whilst the mothers stay at home and raise children, as well as the other unpaid labour that accompanies the label. This is very much the case in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and that stereotype is mocked consistently throughout the series of books. Take Dog Days, for example. On merely the fourteenth page, there is a recognisable ridicule of a stay-at-home mother; “Mom’s not helping Dad’s mood either. She calls him at work about five times a day on everything that’s going on around the house”. This could reinforce the negative idea that a woman’s primary role is to manage domestic duties and depend on her husband for decision-making. Furthermore, it perpetuates the ‘Nuisance Wife’ trope, whereby the mother can be seen as overly dependent or interfering with the husband’s professional and personal life, which reinforces outdated tropes of women as distractions to men’s professional lives. Furthermore, the negative pigeonholing of women and their gender roles has been flipped for the younger generation in the form of Patty Farrell, Greg’s nemesis/bully. In the first instalment of the franchise, she joins the wrestling club, and much to Greg’s surprise, she bests Greg in multiple wrestling matches. The guys of the club then belittle Greg for his loss against a girl. This again negatively conveys female achievement, suggesting young women would suit better in a tutu and pumps, not headgear and mouthguards.
A Diversity Hire
Finally, it is worth mentioning the predominantly white, middle-class suburban perspective that is displayed in the series. The most diverse character we get is the famous Chirag Gupta, and even this feels like a diversity hire. Chirag is presented as the outsider of the Wimpy Kid core friendship group. He is made an easy target throughout the series, particularly in Rodrick Rules. Greg and his friends play ‘Invisible Chirag’, where they simply pretend he doesn’t exist, and honestly, with the amount of use Chirag has to the overall events of the book, he may as well not exist. His character development and cultural context are rarely, if ever, explored; he is just another smart Indian trope who has his accent mocked by a non-self-aware Greg: “It really bugs me when people do that because Chirag actually speaks perfect English.”
With the franchise ever extending, there must be a change in discourses surrounding the portrayal of suburban family life. The world is beautifully diverse, and all cultures, sexualities and genders deserve equal and ample representation, especially when exposed to younger audiences. So, Jeff Kinney, whilst you provided me, a straight white male, with some enjoyable memories in front of your pages, could the same be said for a queer non-white reader?