It appears that Puffin has backed down.
Roald Dahl’s books are to be printed in their original form, following criticism of the decision to amend novels including The BFG, making them more suitable for modern audiences.
The plan to remove references to things like characters’ appearance and weight had sparked a fierce debate.
Words including “fat” and “ugly” were removed after being reviewed by sensitivity readers, who check for potentially offensive content.
Puffin will now sell the originals.
Good. Personally, I never liked his work, but then no one is forcing me to buy it. However, this attempt to bowdlerise it was censorship by another name in the name of wokery and wokery has proved yet again, that when met with firm resistance, it is a paper tiger.
We need to keep doing it. Every time they push, we need to push back harder. Every time they make a demand, we need to say ‘no’ and mean it. It works, because we are many and they are few. Ultimately, other than their echo chamber on Twitter, they are nothing and they have no powers. Standing up to them demonstrates this. So we need to do it and keep doing it.
So, when you are told that you need to declare your pronouns, you know what to do… Likewise when they refer to Christmas as the winter closure period.
Ultimately, their than their echo chamber on Twitter, they are nothing and they have no powers.
Whut?
They’re nothing more than their echo chamber… I’m guessing?
But yes. Keep pushing back on these Muppets.
(Un)Fortunately I work in a factory in the north of the country so this stuff doesn’t really come up. And my friends have their heads screwed on right.
Might come up in a few years as the hatchling Drakons go through school…
Missed that in the proofread.
Will the “sensitivity readers” be getting fired then?
On the subject of Christmas, it is worth looking up the Winterval myth. A scandal that was entirely manufactured by the press. Of course the CofE were not above exploiting the confected outrage for their own ends.
I know about the winterval myth. I even used it in one of my short stories.
This one comes from staff and students at Brighton University. There’s a surprise.
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23188941.brighton-university-rejects-claims-ban-term-christmas/
“It’s not an edict it’s only guidelines.” Oh yes, we’ve all heard that one before, guidelines today, nudges tomorrow, edicts the day after that. I’m not a Christian but I call it Christmas because that’s what it’s called. Our Months are mostly named for Roman gods and our days are named for Norse gods. Nobody ever suggests that we need to change them for to protect the feelings of non worshippers of those gods.
Sorry to be OT yet again but I saw this story and it immediately made me think of you because it touches not one but two subjects that I know are close to your heart.
https://notalwaysright.com/worst-dress-code-ever/284202/
Oh, very good. Nicely done.
“So, when you are told that you need to declare your pronouns, you know what to do…”
Yes. You declare your pronouns. I’ve got a GCE ‘O’ level in English language so these are the pronouns I use:
First person singular: I, me, my, mine, myself
First person plural: We, us, our, ours, ourselves
Second person: You, your, yours, yourself/yourselves
Third person singular: He/she/it, him/her/it, his, hers, its, himself/herself/itself.
Third person plural: They, them, their, theirs, themselves.
I may have missed some out but you get the gist. 🙂