Annie and Clarabel - Accusations of Sexism

Accusations of Sexism

The 1980s saw a number of allegations of sexism levelled at the books, so much so that Birmingham City Council banned the Railway Series from their libraries. The accusations centred around the fact that the engines in the books were almost invariably male, while the coaches were always female. Therefore, the "men" had all the power, while the "women" were entirely passive. Annie and Clarabel, being the most prominent coach characters in the books, were seen as the clearest examples of this allegation.

Defenders of the series pointed out that the coaches were not always passive, and that Annie and Clarabel would often prove to be far more perceptive and sensible than Thomas. Britt Allcroft, the producer of the television series, claimed that gender issues were irrelevant.

For the fourth season of the television series, it was announced that there would be more female characters than ever before, but only one female vehicle was introduced along with eleven new male ones - no more than in previous seasons.

The accusations against Annie and Clarabel may even have been in the producers' minds when Season 7 was produced. This featured a new (and notably female) locomotive called Emily, who was given two coaches of her own.