My 11 year child has been asked to re write a Disney story of his choice but without the sexist/racist aspects. AIBU to write back..

[SecretsInSpitalfield]

That I will not have the teacher pushing her views on my child?

As far as he (and his younger DB) Disney has always been a POSITIVE thing! Fun films , cinema days and even a dream once in a lifetime trip to World Disney World.

I wouldn't have minded if they said 'do you think any Disney films are racist or sexist? If so, please elaborate why. But this has been set as if it's FACTUAL that they are and my child is just 11.

Please give me your honest opinions

Thank you 😊

Have you considered suggesting you son writes about how many times Disney Stereotypes brits as posh Villians? Aristocats, cruella De Ville, Basil, Jafar (british accent) scar, pirates of the Caribbean, queen of Hearts.... might not be quite what the teacher was intending but interesting.

Or if you what do deconstruct one without ruining chikdhood favourites try "fun and fancy free" give your bear a slap.

I love Disney. I get the complaints but he was a product of his era and an equal opportunities offender who traded i stereotypes.

Fwiw jungle book wasnt selected for its diversity, it was selected for Disney's love of Kipling...

Along with all the racism and sexism all the dead parents makes me question people when they talk about Disney being wholesome and lovely

But this has been set as if it's FACTUAL that they are and my child is just 11.

It is factual though. If it's not a fact that Disney films are racist and sexist, why then do Disney themselves acknowledge this in disclaimers?

It sounds like great homework to me, and I can't believe the teacher changed the wording.

And for about the fourth time in recent weeks, I'm yet again astonished at the amount of posters on Mumsnet who casually dismiss racism. This place can be appalling sometimes.

This teacher sounds like an insufferable twat to be honest.

All teachers need to challenge gender stereotyping, racism and homophobia. It's not their personal agenda, it's the curriculum. If you don't like that, I would suggest that a)it's not the teacher who is an insufferable twat and that b)you home educate

Dead/absent parents are a traditional literature trope used to free children from parental guidance in order that they can make their own mistakes/Decisions. Like Treasure Island, David Copperfield Fanny (manfiels park, Evelina.

people who mention Peter Pan, i wonder if they have read the original? The sexism in the original has been dialled down considerably by Disney. And Peter Pan is quite the arsehole in the books....

If your going to teach the problems with Disney its worth actually doing it properly and reading a few different versions of the same thing. Both source and new. Its worth constrasting what was considered safe for child consumption through the ages

no generation is free from bias. Every piece of literature/art is a product of the prejudices of its age. Doesnt mean you cant appreciate and enjoy work from the past

I always think it's disingenuous to claim you don't want other people "pushing their views" on your kids.

What you mean is that you disagree. Your perspective isn't any less a view that you want to push on your child.

NaviSprite oh god is it weird if I admit that I had a MASSIVE crush on Robin Hood? It’s not weird to be into foxes, right? There definitely must have been something about that film because it’s the one I remember most from my childhood.

You are not alone.

My eldest developed an obsession with it when he was three or four and I wasn’t sorry.

The Princess is always rescued by a man. I would do it on snow white. Just call her snow skintoned and call the dwarfs the seven gender neutral people. She can be saved by royalty or the step parent decided to eat the apple themselves. Leaving snow never to need saving.

It's possible to enjoy something and analyse it at the same time.

There's no need to take an extreme view on this from either side. This question won't ruin Disney films for those who enjoy them, or did when they were younger.

YABU, they are both and at 11 he is old enough to know.

I would love my 11 yr old to be given this assignment! I love disney and this is not anything against the films. But a lot are of their times. I'm actually doing an English Lit degree at the minute. And we are learning about fairy tales and the origins plus Victorian childhood. Red Riding Hood is very sexist in its original form. Lots of Victorian books are. Little Women for example. This doesnt draw away from their value, just teaches us how times have changed. For the better. Racism in American books is taught at GCSE and A Level.
The teacher is obviously using Disney as its accessible to 11 year olds. And will help them think critically about the texts.

@Dyrne you are most certainly not alone - I don’t know why but I did too! 😂

My mum told me earlier I also said (at the age of 6 or so) that Beast looked better as the Beast and not the human Prince because when he turns around with that full on duck pout I just laughed really hard - still do

Yeah the Zeus of legend is not the clumsy lovable dad figure but then again Hercules only went on his journey after killing his own family in a fit of rage if I’m getting my mythology right, so not too close to the source material at all, but refreshing to see Machismo being challenged a bit in the 90’s - that Hercules puts on that silly macho voice and tries to do the cheesy American Action Hero thing and Meg’s just - I’ll stop being such a fucking nerd now

If course an 11 year old and fellow pupils need to look at racism and sexism, and these films are an ideal medium for doing that. There are many Disney films I've not seen, so can't sensibly discuss them, but one I do remember seeing was Bambi, but that was a long time ago, sexist as his Dad is the prince of the forest, but mum is just mum, and tbh stags don't take much part in bringing up their fawns, but I don't ever anything that could be racism, , traumatic though with his mother being shot

Even Disney themselves admit it's a problem.

5 hours ago - Disney’s new streaming service has added a disclaimer to “Dumbo,” “Peter Pan” and other classics because they depict racist stereotypes, underscoring a challenge media companies face when they resurrect older movies in modern times. ... In “Dumbo,” from 1941, crows that help Dumbo ...

Just one of the many sites running the same story

apnews.com/b03d3e6c25f04b47837fc1f197e43379

An article from 6 months ago
www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/23/disney-plus-streaming-site-will-not-offer-racist-song-of-the-south-film

Meryl Streep and his grandniece called this out 5 years ago
www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/16/abigail-disney-meryl-streep-racism-sexism

Just some of the examples of racism in Disney. On the first google page. Very easy to fall in the rabbit hole and from legit sources going back years.

You can enjoy Disney but still be aware there are issues and racism/sexism, as with a lot of old media. Have you asked him what he thinks? It would've been discussed in class so for all you know he has some interesting thoughts on this.

Surely there are hundreds of other (and better) examples? We only have to look online or in the newspapers or on the news of another child being driven to take their lives or domestic violence.. just look at people in 'power' nowadays and all the unsavoury stories on a daily basis..

But let's pick on Disney ...

I'm sure if your son was asked to read newspapers and write about domestic violence you would be complaining.

IMHO it's a good way to get children to think about things in different ways and learn to be critical.

YOu can still enjoy the films.

OP, I’d encourage you to put on the old version of ‘Beauty and the Beast‘. See how Belle is harassed by Gaston, to the extent he takes his frustration out on her father. Belle is imprisoned in a castle by the Beast - they have a ‘romance’ of sorts where he yells at her occasionally and she teaches him manners (this is what a woman is supposed to do - quite literally tame a man). Don’t forget, too, everyone in the village think Belle is a bit mad as she likes reading. There’s a whole song dedicated to this, FFS.

If you don’t think Disney is sexist after this, there’s no hope for you. You can still enjoy their movies, but its very reasonable to be aware there is a heavy subtext of sexism and racism in most of them. It is very healthy for your sons to be aware of this too - the earlier, the better.

YABVU . Heaven forbid his education should have analyse the everyday sexism that's fed to us.

YABU. Disney is incredibly racist and sexist. It’s not an opinion it’s a fact. You may not have realised it yet like I hadn’t but I’ll never forget learning about it in a sociology class and having Disney ruined forever!

Dumbo is very racist and with the crows and the jive speak. As a black woman I am always amused when people rail against PC culture what exactly is it that they are so put out from not being able to say? They always insist it's not to use racist terms that denigrate my worth as a human being but other things, other things I'm sure that insult somebody else. A former friend used to say the same nonsense about PC culture then got bent out of shape when I said no, the n-word was not okay and just harmless because she hears it in songs and she cannot say it.

Yabu.

mathanxiety Thu 14-Nov-19 20:11:15
If you like the fairy tales, OP, get a copy of the original Brothers Grimm book and read them as they started out, then ask yourself what Disney was trying to do with his versions.
..........
We had those books in school library when I was a child; I read them and was really freaked out!

How did you ever cope in year one when your children were asked to consider the POV of the villain in classic fairy tales?

well to be honest, what’s a wolf to do with all these illegal pigs coming over here and building their houses...

Eco Wolf and the Three Pigs - brilliant book Eco Wolf loves the environment and lives in harmony with all the other creatures in the valley, until the Three Pigs come along to make a fast buck by building all over it:
www.goodreads.com/book/show/1307631.Eco_Wolf_And_The_Three_Pigs

Many things said in this thread, feel very personal to me as the mother of a child who recognised overt racism to him when he was 4.

He was told “you can’t be the prince. Princes don’t come from Africa” . By two girls from nice friendly white middle class families.

My daughter came home from school glowing aged 8/9 because, for the first time, she got to be the princess playing with her friends at break time. She was Moana, because she has brown skin and curly hair like Moana. Prior to that she was never the title character.

'Innocence' not to notice that no-one like you is important enough (or beautiful enough) to be the main character is a luxury for black girls.

I love many old movies - I'm talking from the 40s, 50s, 60s - I show my kids all sorts of stuff and read to them all sorts too. I just tell them it's old fashioned and point out things that are not acceptable these days. To just ban all outdated things would mean losing such a wealth of great stories.

Peter Pan for example has some obviously difficult bits but also is a classic imaginative flight of fancy - talk about it, don't hide it IMO.