Snowdays Are Holidays

[poliphilo]

Snow is restful. At least it is if you don't have to go out in it. Think of the imagery we conventionally use.  It falls like feathers. It blankets the ground.  Mmmm.  All soft and warm and cosy. 

Well not warm exactly- but you know what I mean. It's a psycholgical effect.

I believe the snow is a reason why I didn't post here yesterday. Snow days are holidays.  

I did try. I tried to write something about Carol Thatcher and how she thought the tennis player looked like a golly. I hate it when white people get all tribal in the fug of the tribal cave and think they can get away with racist slurs because there are only other white folks listening. Were the BBC right to sack her? Yes, absolutely.

I'm reading nineweaving 's wintry fantasy Moonwise. I couldn't have chosen a book better suited to the weather. It demands that you read it slowly because it would be churlish not to sound every word in your head. This is absolutely not fantasy in the Harry Potter vein- which you can gobble down a hundred pages at a time. This you have to chew- to ruminate over. It's the toughest book I've read in a long time- and I like tough books. It's as tough as Virginia Woolf- actually tougher.

We had a light snowfall yesterday- which laid a layer of powder stuff over the crunchy stuff from two days before. Ailz has been listening to the weather forecast and says there's more to come this weekend.

Comments

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

On Thatcher - word. Couldn't agree more.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I blame the parents. I imagine Denis and Margaret talked like this all the time. And as for Mark.....

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

God yes.

Hannah Pool is furious about it in the Guardian, here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/06/bbc-race-golliwog - one of the few black voices I've heard on the issue.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Good article.

Silly little incidents like this reveal just how thoroughgoingly racist our society still is.

[sovay]

I couldn't have chosen a book better suited to the weather.

She's one of the great poets of autumn and winter as far as I'm concerned.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She's the most extraordinary writer.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Glad you're enjoying the crunchy stuff!

Nine

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed!

Sylvie has just gone missing.....

[algabal.livejournal.com]

The illustrations to this book (http://books.google.com/books?id=7e8OAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover), the origin of the "Golliwog" image, are actually really beautiful and interesting.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It was a golden age of book illustration.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

God forbid that Hannah Pool and her ilk should ever come to middle America! My former mother in law called her two sons "Golliwog" and "Bunny-Boo". She came from Indiana, a Quaker background, turned Methodist. Mary T. was the most NON-racist person I have EVER met. It would hurt her feelings immensely if a Hannah Pool were to call her a racist.
By the way, I read the story and found it charming - the illustrations were delightful.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

These things vary with time and place. What matters is that in the context of British society in the early 21st century that word is seen offensive- and Carol Thatcher- who is a TV journalist and the daughter of a former world leader- might have been supposed to understand that.

[craftyailz.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the player really did look like a golly, have you thought of that one? Like Carol Thatcher I grew up with Robertsons Jam, which had pictures of golliwogs on them, you could save the gollies and get badges or figurines.

What if a white girl was described as looking like a barbie - also a racial stereotype - would that be racist too?

[richenda.livejournal.com]

I find it a bit difficult to agree with you - I adored my gollies and had a huge collection of Robertson's gollies long after the fabric gollies fell apart
On the other hand, she's much younger than I.
Would it had made any difference if she/I'd said that his hair looked like her/my favourite golly?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's the word golliwog that's the problem. I don't think she could have finessed the reference so as not to cause offence.

[richenda.livejournal.com]

Sorry, don't see it I've been called and called myself a golliwog all my life.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's also- perhaps- a generational thing. The word has different associations for different age groups.

I have to admit to being the owner of a very fine black doll- not really a golliwog because he's all lanky and floppy- who used to be my mother's and may well have been handed down to her from the previous generation. He must be at least 80 and could well be over 100.

[richenda.livejournal.com]

Yes - to us it just meant hair-type - nothing to do with colour.
But I suppose I will have to stop telling hairdressers that, if my hair is cut too short, it goes into gollywog mode.
by the way,it's still really difficult in some places to find black dolls - but I suppose that might be because dolls in general have rather gone out of favour - it's all TV characters now!