4.18.2008

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories

I saw a Book-Off today. I had to go in. I was never really sure what Book-Off meant in Japan, and just chalked it up to one more classic case of Jenglish (Japanese-English). But, today's Book-Off located in Vancouver, brought back pleasant memories so I decided to go in for nostalgic reasons.

Good thing I did! I found the most amazing book. The title? Politically Correct Bedtime Stories. Here is an excerpt from a rendition of Snow White:

Once there was a young princess who was not at all unpleasant to look at and had a temperament that many found to be more pleasant than most other people's. Her nickname was Snow White, indicative of the discriminatory notions of associating pleasant or attractive qualities with light, and unpleasant or unattractive qualities with darkness. Thus, at an early age, Snow White was an unwitting if fortunate target for this type of colorist thinking.

Now that's what I call balanced, politically correct writing. It's about time there was a bit more sensitivity shown in fairy, excuse me, "individual diety proxy" tales. I promise to never read to my children those biased, antiquated tales any longer. I think its time we all live up to the author's charge:

"If, through omission or comission, I have inadvertently displayed any sexist, racist, culturalist, nationalist, regionalist, aegist, lookist, ableist, sizeist, speciesist, intellectualist, socioeconomicist, ethnocentrist, phallocentrist, heteropatriachalist, or other type of bias as yet unnamed, I apologize and encourage your suggestions for rectification. In the quest to develop meaningful literature that is totally free from bias and purged from the influences of its flawed cultural past, I doubtless have made some mistakes."

May this blog live up to the same calling.

7 comments:

Kari said...

ah ha ha ha! I forgot about those books! There's a series of them, and they were in our school library when I was little.

ah, good memories. I loved 4th grade!!!! :-D

ann said...

Wow, a Book Off. How about that. :)

Nice fairy tale. Good to see you finally embracing political correctness. Yes we can! :)

Anonymous said...

Blake, I hate to tell you this, but I've always found your blog to be a little on the phallocentric side. Maybe you could get female guest bloggers?

Nice post.

ann said...

Ooh, Stephen had a great idea. I'll let you guest blog on my blog if you'll let me guest blog on your blog. We could write on the same topic from different perspectives. I think it would be fantastic.

Unknown said...

does your keyboard still work?

ann said...

Seriously. Update.

Unknown said...

yeah, i think his keyboard must be broken. or his hands. you know he has something to say!
must you keep us waiting?!?