Strange? Or Just German (Mark II)

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, I've been wavering about starting this thread, but here goes ...

Yesterday, we were visiting a German friend, and her eldest DS1 (6) started asking to "play golliwogs". He was switching between German and English, and his mum answered only in German (as she always does, understandably), so I only vaguely got the conversation. (she said "no") She didn't explain, which was unusual.

I know there have been big MN battles over Golliwogs (I've been in 'em!), and don't really want to get into all that. I just want to know if Golliwogs are somehow ok in Germany? Or is "golliwog" even a real German word?

I found the whole thing v strange and weird, tbh ... I fear "playing golliwogs" may have something to do with smearing mud all over faces etc? As they were playing with mud at the time ...

Bump?

I've never heard 'golliwog' used in German, NQC, and I wouldn't really think they're acceptable either (certainly never heard of 'playing golliwogs'. And Germans are in general pretty sensitive towards racism), but I'm not German. You want emkana or geekgrrl.

Really CF? I find that quite - I find Germans generally quite 'aware' of these sorts of things. A regional thing maybe? (I take a lot of my impressions from Berlin - don't do all that much interacting with Germans, apart from students/colleagues, down here ).
(btw, expect an email soon, re Listen In )

It's possible that they just haven't "twigged" that gollies are racist? They maybe haven't developped the same associations there as they have here? (And yes, the original golliwog book wasn't actually offensive ... just dated by today's standards. I think?)

Race is tricky. DH used to work with someone whose attitude was totally fine, but who used the term ... "nignog". We had a perfectly reasonable chat once about how much more hassle brown people have at immigration etc, for no reason other than the colour of their skin, and he espoused perfectly reasonable attitudes, really not offensive at all ... but using the term "nignog" throughout.

I think my friend is from Berlin.

I find the whole thing slightly more odd because her DH is half-South-Asian, and the kids are (effectively) South-Asian themselves (as in, they are brown, and look "Asian", to use the British term ...).

Before I came to the UK I had never heard the term golliwog and I had never seen a golliwog either.

I am with Emkana, before I moved over here I was never aware of golliwog and what it stands for...so, not a german thing, lol!

Hmm, so is there a German word for them, if CF's nursery had them?

Weird weird weird.

I didn't want to ask, because where does that sort of conversation go?

not that I know off...no...like I said I never saw one or heard of them when I moved over here and haven't ever come across one in Germany neither, whilest visiting, lol!

I agree, also never heard golliwogs growing up (mother German, Father English - grew up in Germany)

PS - Hi NQC so sorry not to meet you at StPs - we moved DD after her reception year due to fundamental difference in approach to education! Sad not to meet you, though.

Oh goodness Spatz, didn't know you'd been having problems there. Where have you moved her too? And what difference did you have with them, if you don't mind me asking?

Certainly no golliwogs in dd's (german) kiga and it's all very multicultural too. I have a vague recollection of seeing something once in the last couple of years on lovely German Saturday night TV akin to the Black and White Minstrel show i.e. white men with their faces blacked up. That rather took me aback.

In some ways I do think aspects of German culture are like 1970s Britain (retailing, entertainment, trade unions blah blah blah) but sometimes I find that quite reassuring - it feels safer here. But with that I suppose you are going to get the odd outdated, un-pc attitude.

DD has gone to a local state primary school and is a different child - she is much happier. She was having trouble sleeping and was miserable when she came home from StPs, never had anything to say about it and said the days were long. I think she was stressed, really. It all came to a head on sports day - long thread in early July. You'll have to let me know if they change the format this year!

I hope your DS is enjoying it? How is lovely Mrs P doing?

Ugh, that sounds unpleasant - it sounds like it didn't suit her at all. I'm glad she's happier now.

DS1 is really enjoying himself, prefers it to his old school, etc etc. Hmmm, will dig up your old thread though, sorry I didn't spot it at the time ...

Mrs P is doing very well. Magnus claims she gave herself that (last) name because she likes drawing with pens.

Perhaps it's a South Asian thing. It may be something that they picked up from their Asian cousins. I haven't actually seen golliwogs in Malaysia but once or twice I have heard them referred to without any apparent awareness that they were anything other than a type of doll with very dark skin. But then I don't think most people in Malaysia would have met a black person and may only have seen them on tv and would probably be unaware of the word as a rasist term for black people.

Found the thread ... Hmm, yes, that sports day thing sounds unpleasant. DS1's old school did sports day (with kids two years younger than reception), and did races, but the prizegiving was minimal ... I think winners were acknowledged at the end of each race, if at all? No big fuss made, anyway.

Particularly at this age, the bias gained by being old for the year is huge.

I suspect they'll change the prizegiving this year - that was the main problem. I do also think it was rotten to run them all in heats big and small together. I just think it hadn't been thought through - they were using a model from older children that was inappropriate.

Did they run all of preprep together? That would be very bad ...