“Think you can’t write women? Don’t. Write people and make them women.” - Lauren Faust

I think that quote by Faust goes a long way in explaining why Sally and many other of the female characters in the Archie Sonic comic have managed to survive the passage of time as such strong characters, while also explaining why so much controversy surrounds them as well.

It was quite apparent that Sally was created as a character first, with the personality, dress style, and role in the comic, and then assigned a gender as the final action. The same could be said about Bunnie, Lara-Su and Julie-Su. They might be female characters, but due to them being Mobians, they were allowed to be as equal to the guys as possible, and their gender was never used to limit them in any way. Even at points in the comic where Max was being a sexist prick, he was portrayed as completely in the wrong and not relateable at all.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as it's been decreed that above all else, Sally and every other female in the comic is nothing more then a girl, and every other facet of her character can only follow after that. People claim that Sonic isn't naked cause he's covered in fur and you'd think Sally falls under the same category, but since she's just a girl now, she has to follow the gender limitations that are forced on her now. Essentially, the gender equality that's been in the comic for 20 long years is being torn away, and the genders are being forced to be separated, and for no real good reason.

The most common complaint people have is that even though she's covered in fur she has the shape of a female...but my question is why does that matter? She's covered in fur so it's like she's wearing a full body leotard and you can't see any actual anatomy, so all you can see is her chest. Are people saying a woman's chest is something to be ashamed of? And why is it okay for male characters to have female crotches (or have their anatomy simply inside of them when they stand up), yet females get discriminated against and are considered not proper to be unclothed? It should really be as simple as everyone wears clothes or clothing is completely optional as it's been for 20 years, so why does it have to become so complicated now? If Sally is considered naked without clothes, then so is Sonic.

I'd also like to remind people that never once in the 20 years was Sally's state of dress ever brought up, and never once has she ever tried to seduce anybody with her body or anything else. On the other hand, let me point to Rouge the Bat, who for some reason was designed with no fur on her body so that she actually is naked without clothing and actually is showing off a ton of cleavage in her costume. Not only that, but she has repeatedly seduced male characters in the franchises and was even given a "charm" move that allowed her to steal from people easier.

Are you honestly telling me that Sally is considered offensive while this anthro Fujiko is running around and actually using her body and gender to get what she wants? Sure she's tamed down a bit and been turned into an "other" character that follows Shadow around, but that still doesn't take away the fact that Rouge is a fanservice character while Sally from the start was nothing more then a purely equal character that didn't even take gender into the equation with who she is and what she does. Go beyond simply looking at the designs of these characters and look at how they actually act and behave, in order to make your opinions on them.

Anyway, just remember that as censorship grows more and more ridiculous and what's considered "proper" and "acceptable" shrinks on a regular basis, you don't have to blindly accept these views as reality and are free to make your own choices on these matters.

Sure this is all revolving around a kids franchise, but people mold their reality around what they learn as kids, so be sure to keep that in mind and to make sure that what you believe as your gut feeling actually makes sense, and isn't just a blind and irrational thought that was carved in your youth that you haven't thought deeply about since.