'dirty Sl*t' - not very appropriate for 8 yo school play?

[BerylStreep]

DS is 8. He has been going to his afterschool drama group, which is run in school, but by an outside drama group.

He arrived home a few weeks ago with his script for a play they are doing - Roald Dahl's Cinderella. I noticed in it there was a line where the prince say 'Who's this dirty slut?'

I spoke to DS's teacher and said I didn't think it was very appropriate to teach 8 yo boys terms that denigrate women, and she said she would speak to the drama teacher. Last week the drama teacher made a point of speaking to me after the session and she assured me that a lot of the play was improvisation and they wouldn't be using that line.

So I was a bit surprised today when I went to see the play today, to see that they had kept it in after all.

I don't want to appear to be petty, but I really think that having raised it with the school, having been assured the line wouldn't be used, I think I need to say something to the school about it. Would you say something, or just think, well the damage is done, no point raising it now? The principal was sitting next to me in the play, so will be aware of it already.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

^The Prince cried "Who's that dirty girl?
Off with her head, ev'ry last curl."^

^The Prince cried "Who's that filthy maid?
Off with her head, don't get delayed!"^

^The Prince cried "Who's that grubby chick?
Off with her head, and make it quick!"^

Ok, none are great, but I presume a drama teacher with more time to think could come up with a better idea.

[bearleftmonkeyright]

Guardian article in favour of the original

I still believe the word has changed so much that the play needs editing.

[TeiTetua]

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams has some useful suggestions there, which pretty much keep the mood of the original. Dahl was writing a couple of generations ago, and maybe the meaning of the word has shifted since then--more towards sex, and less towards looking neat and clean? Not that Dahl wasn't a sexist, of course, but perhaps not so bad in his own time.

I have a male friend who likes to invite people to his flat saying "You'll have to put up with my slatternly housekeeping". I wonder if he'd substitute "sluttish".

[crazycatdad]

Agreed, not very cool, I recall reading this very book when I was little and although I don't feel it harmed me in any way, I'd be pretty uncomfortable about it being read aloud in the presence of kids, let alone by kids. More than anything, I'd probably be complaining about the line staying in despite assurances to the contrary.

I also recall being in a (very outdated) panto in the mid-90s which contained the phrase 'old faggot', the traditional meaning of which was decades past its expiry date even then. As I recall, it remained in the script despite objections.

[BerylStreep]

The Head phoned me yesterday, and she told me that she was also really shocked when she saw the performance and had already made a note in her diary to speak to the drama teacher as she found it completely unacceptable. She said the number one rule for her as a teacher is that you always review materials before giving them to children.

She wasn't aware of the previous conversations there had been in relation to the script.