Penguins are for Girls.

Pretty much awesome, and sad, all together.

Curious...A client that I'm designing a vehicle wrap for, who owns, let's say an ice company, liked the motif of "Superman-styled ice castles and icebergs", but the regal-looking penguins that I spec-d out  were too ''kid'' or ''zoo-like.''  Rather, ''something like more masculine polar bears'' would be more befitting, he suggested.  Was he actually trying to say penguins are for girls? I think he was! Can you place a gender weight on arctic animals?  It is true, they're adorable, all of them. However, upon my illustration reference search to appease the client, I came across this bad boy (photo left).  Before I clicked on the full image, I thought ''My GOD is that a gigantic, gutted crocodile!?" (notice from afar the ripped-to-pieces bone structure that looks like a reptilian mouth opening) ......
Seriously, in the arctic circle, bigger than a polar bear (I get excited about over sized reptiles)...Yeeeah.

That is a sperm whale carcass.  So I guess this photo shrieks masculinity? With that estimate, are blood, guts and carnal instincts aligned with the male gender? Masculinity?  Why?  Why is it more primal for a man to like, seek out, be aligned with blood, hunting, eating, and the like?   In nature, especially with regards to the Antarctic penguins (see: March of the Penguins, 2005, dir. Luc Jaquet), the human-stereotyped gender roles are reversed, which I believe makes for the extra dramatic impact that this film offered to movie-goers.  The males stayed home to babysit, while the mothers trekked across the continent in search of food and hope (seriously, *gasp*).  There is nothing more powerful, or majestic, than the plot line that follows the reality of the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica's life cycle:  lay eggs, Dad sits on eggs, Mom walks 70 miles across hilly ice in search of food to stuff her face with, against all odds, only to return to vomit it into her child's (who's birth she did not witness because she was busy working) mouth.  And, scene.

In summary, I love penguins.  They have perma-tuxes.  They make great subjects for cartoons, movies, and cuteoverload.com content. They are more resilient than almost every animal that comes to mind.  They are members of the bird family, which apparently makes certain men who align with their perception of masculinity (polar bears = greater and more dude-like than birds) feel funny, or less manly....Or maybe it was my "girly" illustration?

 Leonard Cohen's ''March of the Penguins''