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Many of the qualities of the story and characters of “The Little Rascals” are satirically misogynistic. For starters, most of the main characters belong to the “He-Man Womun Haters Club” and a huge focal point of their personalities centers upon being mean to girls — specifically pledging to do so, in fact. Granted, “The Little Rascals” does, at times, go out of its way to strike down the very prejudices it perpetuates elsewhere. Spanky and Alfalfa are shocked, but unbothered, to discover their hero racecar driver, A.J. Ferguson (Reba McEntire), is a woman, not a man. Furthermore, at the end of the film, the boys delightfully welcome the girls among their ranks in their club. This resolution might seem too little too late, though, for parents concerned about the film’s misogynistic aura, satirical as it may be. The Washington Post reported about an upset parent in 1994 who assessed that by the time the friendly ending came around, “the girl-esteem damage was done” upon his daughter.
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Given the target audience, one has to wonder if young viewers will recognize the moments of satire for their true nature. In watching the boys’ prejudice against the girls and the ways in which both groups conform to stereotypes, at what age would a viewer be able to tell the difference between what’s supposed to be parody and what they take as an example for their own behavior? Where is the line between a joke that calls out a stereotype as harmful and a joke that itself adds to that harm?
