I recently came across a story (link below) about the censorship of Roald Dahl's books based on certain words used in the books. Now, my initial thought was, "These are kids books...what possible words would warrant being changed?". Fat. That was one of the words removed in relation to the physical description of one of the characters. Again: Fat.
I was a kid in the 90s where the evangelical right thought it was their moral and spiritual duty to make sure their kids were not exposed to things like Harry Potter and other art that they considered doorways to darker realms. Being an adult, I can honestly say this was a molehill to die on. Kids like myself were not better off and eventually found their way to these “restricted” things. I found Harry Potter in my early twenties and definitely felt I was not being shielded from something that would affect my Christian upbringing. In fact, I just considered it hypocritical that I was allowed to partake in The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia which had witches, wizards, and magic alike.
In the case of this action against Roald Dahl's books, I'm truly at a loss. I've been told from people who support this removal of certain words that the words are offensive and could in fact be hurtful to children who read the books. It's the same thing done in the 90s, though. Shielding kids from words does not help them--far from it. All it does is tell kids that there are negative connotations and you should avoid any and everything negative in your life. You're too weak to handle a word. Reality is life has negative and difficult circumstances all along the way. It cannot be helped or avoided. Truthfully, facing the negatives teaches resilience. Adulthood gets harder and if we want our kids to be able to function in adulthood, then they need to know that words and actions can be tough on you and your psyche. But, you will survive and continue on.
There are far too many actual problems and evils in the world societies and communities should be fighting against. Words are not it. Injustices and crimes against peoples should garner our attention. If words have enough power to hurt your feelings or make you feel unsafe, then I think you should not be coddled and maybe work through the issue with some help. There are possibly deeper lining issues at hand and I would celebrate you're finding victory over those traumas. Ultimately, advocating for the removal or changing of words that on their face are descriptive do not make you look strong but weak.
"We're destroying words - scores of them, hundreds of them, every day. We're cutting the language down to the bone. (...) It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other words? A word contains its opposite in itself. Take 'good', for instance. If you have a word like 'good', what need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just as well (...). Or again, if you want a stronger version of 'good', what sense is there in have a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them? 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or 'doubleplusgood' is you want something stronger still." George Orwell (1984)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2023/02/20/roald-dahl-books-censorship-critics/11303434002/
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