Stories by which we teach ourselves oppression
Incubating a longer post ...
chelidon commented on an entry by
marys_ daughter about the stories we tell, and need to tell, each other and ourselves.
marys_daughter has posted a brief description of ter study of "the other" in scifi ... and drawn a conclusion that seems correct to me about the connection with the themes of 'the other as evil' and racism in our dominant culture. Made me start thinking about the stories we allow our children to be told and how those stories shape and limit their understanding.
Facts:
A beloved singer-songwriter of children's music has a CD out that makes fun of the summer-camp experience. The song reeks with cynicism, but its recorded-audience of older children laugh and laugh. I can understand the laughter of a seasoned camper, but wonder if young children listening to these songs will be afraid of camp, or unwilling to try it out.
My granddaughters dote on the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. They also defer to their male cousins. I wonder if there's a connection.
Many (do I mean, most?) of the children's books I have ever seen, even the newest, seem to have all the 'dark' figures being the 'evil' figures. Where's the knight in shining obsidian armor coming to save the day? Where's the slick trickster in the white hat? Even when all the characters are animals, the gender pronouns seem to conform to the old 'boys=active, girls=passive' traditions. Where's the boy being saved by the girl (and not being portrayed as weak or defective in some other way)?
There's more to write about this, but I need to let it sit for a day first.
Love and light to these friends for sparking this interior stew.
chelidon commented on an entry by
marys_ daughter about the stories we tell, and need to tell, each other and ourselves.
marys_daughter has posted a brief description of ter study of "the other" in scifi ... and drawn a conclusion that seems correct to me about the connection with the themes of 'the other as evil' and racism in our dominant culture. Made me start thinking about the stories we allow our children to be told and how those stories shape and limit their understanding.
Facts:
A beloved singer-songwriter of children's music has a CD out that makes fun of the summer-camp experience. The song reeks with cynicism, but its recorded-audience of older children laugh and laugh. I can understand the laughter of a seasoned camper, but wonder if young children listening to these songs will be afraid of camp, or unwilling to try it out.
My granddaughters dote on the stories of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. They also defer to their male cousins. I wonder if there's a connection.
Many (do I mean, most?) of the children's books I have ever seen, even the newest, seem to have all the 'dark' figures being the 'evil' figures. Where's the knight in shining obsidian armor coming to save the day? Where's the slick trickster in the white hat? Even when all the characters are animals, the gender pronouns seem to conform to the old 'boys=active, girls=passive' traditions. Where's the boy being saved by the girl (and not being portrayed as weak or defective in some other way)?
There's more to write about this, but I need to let it sit for a day first.
Love and light to these friends for sparking this interior stew.