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 😊

If your DC is a white male, of course they're positive.

The characters he is most likely to identify with aren't lazy stereotypes, aren't depicted as stupid, helpless until somebody of your DC's demographic comes along, aren't the ones demonstrating less than perfect understanding of the concept of consent - his characters are strong, brave, heroic ones or cute, kind ones.

There are certainly interesting considerations around sexism and racism in Disney. They can be sexist and racist (particularly the older ones), be of their time but still hold appeal. The real piece of work is for him to have that debate with himself. If he can justify that Sleeping beauty isn’t sexism or there isn’t racial stereotyping, that would be an interesting piece of work, surely?
Did my children watch Disney? Yes but not frequently. I don’t think hiding away material teaches much. Far, far better to use it as an opportunity for discussion about sexism, consent and stereotypes. Mine went to the Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum at that age - I strongly believe shielding children from the truth is different from supporting their understanding.
Excellent piece of teaching.
It’s a bit worrying that you seem reluctant to have your child not consider these, to be honest. When is he going to consider everyday racism and sexism?

That teacher sounds great!

SecretsInSpitalfield you must have missed my post.

So I take it everyone who has replied saying that it's FACTUAL and they are racist and sexist .. I'm assuming your DH has NEVER seen a Disney film? You've never been to Disney world ? Just wondering ...

Like I said and you missed, we don’t really watch the fairy tale ones and go for the more obscure films. And talk about the sexism and racism as and when it appears.

Snow White is also supposed to be 14 years old and ends up being kissed (while unconscious) by a grown man.

It's poorly worded. There is nothing wrong with looking at anything through a critical lens, be it feminist, race, class etc. But it is an interpretation.

As a teacher, I think my role is to draw attention to these things and rasie questions but for the students to reach their own conclusions. I'm not there to preach from my particular soapbox.

I think this is a great assignment! As for 'why Disney?', presumably because 11-year-olds will be familiar with Disney films and have grown up with them. It's much easier to inspire children to do homework if it's something that they already have an interest in.

You can enjoy watching something together but also find some of the messages problematic or worthy of further discussion with your children.

Yabu nobody is pushing views on him. They were sexist and racist!

Sleeping Beauty is raped in her sleep and gives birth to twins I believe. Disney sanitised it

What a funny thing to say? OF COURSE they need to learn about sexism and racism (amongst SO many other unjust topics) BUT to go after Disney (and I'm sure they are talking about 70-80 year old films!

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 ...

Well presumably the teacher thinks Disney films are more appropriate and relevant than real life news stories of DV and suicide.

Of course there are other examples and there's no evidence that anyone on here or your child's teacher thinks that Disney is the only or worst culprit (or that your child shouldn't enjoy Disney films or go to Disneyland)

It's a theme to give the class topic a focus and develop their awareness of hope things have changed over the last 70 years (if they've looked at some of the older ones)

. Presumably as part of this topic they've watched at least clips of Disney films in class. You seem to think people are saying they are terrible and should be banned or your son should avoid them. I don't think that's the case, more that he can learn to analyse them critically with awareness of the context

Teacher has since said she has worded in an ignorant way and has re set it

Believe it or not, OP, it is not everyone's ambition to go to Disney World. And no, there are a lot of Disney films I would not show my kids, like Cinderella. Bloody hate that 1950s version. Your son is 11, not 3, he can withstand a bit of critical thinking about Disney.

Why are all the hero's American and all the villans British?

Aladdin /Jafar
Simba / Scar

Even in the new remakes.

@littlehappyhippo sounds like you're pretty offended yourself

So I take it everyone who has replied saying that it's FACTUAL and they are racist and sexist .. I'm assuming your DH has NEVER seen a Disney film? You've never been to Disney world ? Just wondering

Yes, my DC have seen most of the Disney films.. We have also discussed the racist and sexist stereotypes in them. DC are 9 and 12.

Yea Snow White is a great role model. Living with 7 blokes and she's the one that does everything. Whilst the menfolk go to work.

Only let go because the huntsman considered her to be beautiful.
The dwarves "oh my isn't she beautiful child" Never mind the stepmoms obsession with Snows looks.

Could go on and on.

I think there’s a good idea in here but has probably been poorly executed by a teacher jumping on the bandwagon that’s going around at the moment.

Take this thread - Cinderella “waited for a man to rescue her”? Or was she trapped in an abusive household unable to get out without a little helping hand - and even then, she didn’t want the prince; didn’t even realise it was him until the day after the ball!

Or about “kissing women without consent”; yes, there is an element of that, but there’s also an interesting discussion to be had about how that was the only way to revive the princesses, and then comparing that to assumed consent when it comes to giving first aid to unconscious casualties - especially if part of the story is there is a known cure of “true love’s first kiss”. Then there are some great discussions about modern twists of newer films - how the “love” in Maleficent and Frozen is maternal/sisterly love, and how that can be just as powerful. Obviously there are some big differences however it’s still an interesting idea to explore that would get lost if it were just dismissed as “sexual assault!!!”

It needs to be handled carefully - judging films by modern standards and just dismissing them is losing a great teaching moment about how societal attitudes change. Take the snide comments about Walt Disney being a bigot - which conveniently overlooks the fact that his views were actually massively common for the time. Dismissing individual historical incidents of racism without acknowledging the society that existed to hold those views is dangerous.

But all that is probably a bit much for an 11 year old, so simplifying it to getting them to think about racism and sexism and rewrite it (hence having to think critically to identify said incidents of racism and sexism) is probably good enough!

I hope lots of children try to think carefully about incidents of racism as so many probably will just churn out “the princess saves herself, woo hoo!” Stories which somewhat misses the opportunity, really.

Sounds like a great homework, btw. Kudos to your DS's teacher.

I'm a teacher. Your son is obviously at high school with this task?

She is not pushing her view, or picking on Disney. Disney is accessible, giving them a context. It spans many generations, showing how societal attitudes have changed toward what is acceptable. She is teaching them about how writing reflects the time in which it is set.

To clarify, she is doing her job. Your son is obviously aware that you cannot enslave step children, and that animals don't talk, right?

I think children need to have it explained that certain older films/books/comics/TV shows etc. were of their time, when attitudes towards racism and sexism were different: sometimes this has to be explained to the younger generation, and indeed "rewriting" an older story could be a good exercise. Would present-day young readers of the Famous Five immediately spot the outdated attitudes towards women in those books, i.e. that nice girls like Anne were supposed to be at home being a busy little housekeeper, instead of going on adventures? Would they wonder why all the teachers or "mistresses" in those days were all "Miss" and none of them "Mrs"?

Would a child immediately think "racist!!!!" if they hear the Siamese cat song? (I heard it played in my local garden centre this week! ) Is it because the cats are speaking in Asian voices, "imitating" people from Siam, and would a child know what Siam is called now, or think it was a fictional place? The book of the Secret Garden has a certain line, which I dare not quote in case the post is deleted, but it includes "respectable white people", and of course other words we don't say nowadays, such as "cripple". It's a classic tale, but would children be aware of the racist overtones?

I remember the head teacher of my primary school pointing out that in the reading books we used, it was always the boys having the good time, while the girls were at home helping Mother. She used to make us swap the boys' and girls' names when we read them out loud (and this was in the 1980s).

Interestingly, I also remember that in year 7, we were asked to debate violence on TV. Was that PG-type comic violence, as in Fawlty Towers, or the violence that we're not supposed to have seen at the age of 11 or 12?

Your teacher has had to rephrase the homework because the suggestion that some older, racist, sexist Disney films are sexist and racist?Your children sound very delicate

@Dyrne yours is a better answer than mine! Totally agree.

So I take it everyone who has replied saying that it's FACTUAL and they are racist and sexist .. I'm assuming your DH has NEVER seen a Disney film? You've never been to Disney world ? Just wondering ...

I love Disneyland. Never been to disneyworld. I love Disney films. I don't care if my children watch them in the future. But they are sexist and racist. They are of their time, mostly. The world is sexist and racist, for the most part. No harm in your child learning that. There are 11 year olds who get racist abuse shouted at them in the street. If they can process that, your son can process a film having racist connotations.