There are plenty of things you can feel positive knowing about Garfield - the cat who loves lasagna, hates Mondays and adores a teddy bear named Pooky. But last week, without warning, there rose a strange and sudden debate around a question about the famous feline that even creator Jim Davis needed to weigh in on: Is Garfield a boy, a girl, or no gender at all?
在加菲猫的身上你能够看到不少优秀的品质，比如它喜欢意大利千层面，讨厌星期一，还有它喜欢一只名叫“布奇”的泰迪熊。就在上周，毫无由来的，就有关这个出名的猫科动物的性别，突如其来的爆发了一场争论，连加菲猫的创作者吉姆戴维斯都要审慎对待：加菲猫到底是男生还是女生，或者说没有性别？

The argument appears to have begun when writer Virgil Texas came across a 2014 Mental Floss interview with Davis where he described his tabby creation as 'not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old.
这场争论的源头还要从2014年的心理牙线诙谐杂志，笔者维吉尔德克萨斯，采访戴维斯时，他把自己创作这只斑纹猫形容成，不确定到底是公是母，没有确切的种族、国籍、也不分老幼。

In response to the quote, Virgil wrote on Twitter: 'FACT: Garfield has no gender. This. Is. Canon.' So sure was he of Garfield's true gender status that Virgil even took it upon himself to update the Garfield character Wikipedia page with the information.
根据这一内容，维吉尔就在推特上写，真实爆料：加菲猫没有性别，这就是公认。为此他还登陆了维基百科，更新了加菲猫的性别那一栏。（PS:好轴的歪果仁）

But it was quickly clear that not everyone agreed with Virgil's hasty edits, and thus began a war over the Wikipedia entry edits. The Washington Post reported that the battle took place over 60 hours and eventually ended when Wikipedia shut things down by locking the page.
很显然不是所有人都认同维吉尔的编辑，没过多久在维基百科的编辑词条上就引发了一场大战。据华盛顿邮报报道，该战斗持续了60小时，最终以维基百科锁定该页的编辑功能告终。

One editor cited multiple moments when Garfield is referred to as 'he' or 'him' or even 'good boy' by other characters in the comic strip.Another user wrote: 'Garfield is male. Any other view is Fringe.'Others rooting for the genderless option added that it shouldn't matter at all whether Garfield is male or female and the gender classification from the Wikipedia entry should be removed entirely.
一位编辑人员曾引用加菲猫连环画上，被称作“他”，“他（宾格）”“好小伙”的用词。另一位编辑人员写道：加菲猫是男性，其他观点都不重要。更有甚者认为，因为加菲猫是男是女都没有关系，性别这个词条不应该加在里面，应该整个把它移除。

The war became so overblown that even Capitol Hill appeared to jump in the fray, with Twitter boy chronicling Wikipedia entries made from U.S. Congress IP addresses reporting that someone in the House of Representatives did some editing of their own.
这件事情闹得不可开交，还因为国会中有人，和之前发推特的戴维斯一样也参与了词条的编辑，国会的IP地址显示，国会中有议员也按照自己的意愿编辑过词条。

It was a statement that soon appeared to have been made in haste as Jim Davis indeed soon joined the debate, shutting everything down in one line to Washington Post: 'Garfield is male.'The 71-year-old cartoonist also pointed out that Garfield has a girlfriend, Arlene, and claimed that his 2014 quotes had been 'taken out of context. ‘I’ve always said that I wanted to work with animals because they're not perceived as being any particular gender, race, age or ethnicity,' he said. 'In that sense, the humor could be enjoyed by a broader demographic.'
没过多久吉姆戴维斯也坐不住了参与了争论，一句话平息争论，发表在华盛顿邮报上：“加菲猫是男生（公的）。”这位71岁的卡通创作者指出，加菲猫有女朋友叫阿琳，而且称2014年的话是被人断章取义了。他说：“我喜欢和动物有关的工作，因为他们没有所谓的性别、人种、年龄或是种族，这样幽默就能不受地域限制传播的更广。”

（翻译：林浔鸥）

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