Enid Blyton Coin Rejected by Royal Mint

[Katharine]

Very true.

[Francis]

If you are prepared to have your blood boil then listen to this recent BBC program (start from about 9:40 into the program) with the most appalling slurs on dear Enid - especially by the lady commentator. Let me know what you think!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00082f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chrissie777]

Jo-Jo was a great baddie and turned out to be the leader of the gang - to whiten him is as bad as blackening a character. Why shouldn't a black character be allowed to be bad - just plain prejudice.

Yes, Jo-Jo is unforgettable and one of the reasons why I enjoy "Island of Adventure".
The underground passage is another one and then of course Bill's first appearance.

[Katharine]

If you are prepared to have your blood boil then listen to this recent BBC program (start from about 9:40 into the program) with the most appalling slurs on dear Enid - especially by the lady commentator. Let me know what you think!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00082f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't quite know where to start!

Once again there was the reference to Enid being homophobic - but nowhere did I hear them backing the statement up with evidence.
I felt the reference to her books having the currency updated was pointless - when she wrote it was legal tender, it's not a criminal offence to talk about half crowns is it? Also the updating of the language to reflect 'modern sensibilities' - it's not her fault that words have changed meaning over the years. It would be very interesting to see if any of Harriet Hall's writing has to be edited in 60 years time because language she used is no longer considered appropriate.
Who says Enid's books were not accepted 'in her time' surely they wouldn't have been published the huge quantities that they were if she was so unacceptable - for goodness sake, surely a good many of her stories originated from her time when she was writing in Teacher's World. Presumably teachers up and down the country felt her writing was suitable and acceptable for use in classrooms?
I vaguely remember a discussion about Enid having a book rejected in 1966, but can't remember what or why. Surely 'wrong' one book in a career of 40 years isn't a bad tally.
I thought the story about the black doll making its face white ended up with the toys saying that it didn't look right and they preferred it as its original colour? If so, surely that's a powerful message about accepting people as they are, not a racist story?
I can't help feeling the discussion was more a plug for Harriet Hall's book rather than discussing Enid's writing.
The comments from the professor had me confused - he was saying how important it was for children's authors to have good endings to their stories - surely that's what Enid's books did. Her books taught me from a very early age that bad behaviour is unacceptable, and that we should be kind and helpful to others, respect nature etc. How many of her books ended up with the 'bad' characters getting away with their criminal behaviour?
I have to strongly disagree with his comment that Anne cooks all the meals 'because Enid thought girls should'. NO!!! Firstly, Enid herself hated the fact that her mother expected her to do all the household tasks, and secondly George is clearly fighting against such 'girly' behaviour. Also, she was simply reflecting the attitudes of the times. Back in the 1950s, many (if not most) teenagers were taught in single sex schools - the girls were taught cookery and needlework, the boys carpentry etc. Adverts showed women immaculately dressed, welcoming their husbands home at the end of the day to a home cooked dinner dished up in a beautifully clean home - it wasn't unique to Enid Blyton to have specific roles for males and females.

Sorry Francis - I bet you wish you hadn't asked for opinions.

[Francis]

Dear Katharine - Thank you so much for this and I agree with every word. They were both so prejudiced and the way that ghastly woman said that Enid was a repeat racist as if she was an Enemy of the People - it was frightening in its' vehemence and poor Enid was being abused in such strident terms. The man was not much better if the BBC thought that this was a balanced program then we live in a sad world.

[Francis]

Of course Enid's works were accepted and welcomed in her time - the book rejected was right at the end of her life when she was suffering from dementia. These people are intellectual and elitist bullies patting each other on their backs as they line up to demolish a woman who has been dead 50 years.

[Francis]

This is not just an attack on Enid but also on our parents and grandparents and on our teachers too - they are all dead now of course so these people feel able to abuse them without any comeback. The comments about changing the currency are also very pertinent - it makes a mockery both of literature and also of today's children who are fully capable of putting things in context.

[Katharine]

Good points Francis.

I'm off to bed now to read some more of my 1970s Dean version of The Adventures of Pip. I wonder if the 'experts' can find anything racist, sexist or homophobic in that!

[Francis]

Sleep tight - don't let the bedbugs bite!

Good luck with that book.

I am off to read 'Lone Pine London'!

[Kate Mary]

Francis is quite right, it's not just Enid being condemned but all those of her generation too, in fact all previous generations for not holding fashionable 21st century opinions. That seems to me to be a smug, self-righteous attitude. Future generations may condemn this one for having prejudices that are invisible to us.

[Katharine]

I've just done a little bit of Googling, and I'm surprised that Beatrix Potter hasn't been hauled over the coals. Apparently, in The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies Mr McGregor catches the little rabbits and puts them into a sack intending to sell them for tobacco - a reference to smoking in a children's book - surely not appropriate - melt all her commemorative coins!

Mrs McGregor wants the skins to line her coat - surely with all the campaigns to ban real fur in recent years that's not a suitable reference for today's little ones to grow up with? I wouldn't be at all surprised if in a generation or two everyone will be horrified to think that people once wore animal skins, so presumably if that does happen, then any books that refer to the killing or wearing of fur will have to be edited or banned?

Again according to Google, Beatrix originally did two portraits for Mrs McGregor, one youthful, one elderly - her publisher rejected the older one - must be a case of ageism there. Also, Mrs McGregor has already cooked the father of the bunnies - shocking - murder in a children's book, and why was it MRS McGregor who did the cooking - a classic example of sexism surely?

Obviously the above observations are done tongue in cheek, but I feel that if anyone looks hard enough, they can find fault with many authors/books.

[Daisy]

Great Katharine points. It seems very unfair that Enid should be singled out - but of course she is by far the most successful - therefore a target for those who like to dig up the dirt (if there is any) on anyone famous.
In the case of the once again smearing of Enid's intentions, it would seem the author is shamelessly plugging her own book. In spite of all the denigration, Blyton books are still selling amazingly well! Maybe it really is a case of any publicity is good publicity!

[Francis]

Apart from being grossly unfair it is just sheer bad-manners and very unpleasant and bigoted in a way that Enid never was. I read her books avidly and did not become racist but was encouraged to be polite and also to value girls and treat them as friends and equals. This bullying of Enid is truly disgusting and listening to the timber of this ladies' voice indicated how hateful she was. As Katharine has said the edits of Enid's books was mostly inspired by a mistaken urge to update the language and even the money values as if their readers could not make their own adjustments to the fact they are reading historical fiction. Why can't these snobbish and elitist people leave children alone to read fiction without pretending they were all written yesterday. Perhaps we should complain about Beatrix and of course Malcolm Saville whose books include many allusions about adults smoking.

[Francis]

Another exert from the BBC Radio archives showing their snobbery and hatred of Enid in the past - of course it still exists now!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00mczm2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tix]

(Merged with an older topic.)


"According to meeting notes from December 2016 obtained by MailOnline, the Royal Mint Advisory Committee decided against a special edition of 50 pence pieces in Enid Blyton's honour, stating the Secret Seven novelist was "known to have been a racist, sexist, homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer."

********************

The putting down of our author has developed into a kind of cottage industry.

The reasons as to why no commemorative coin was issued for Enid Blyton are set down as stated, so I think it's worth trying to figure out what they mean:

1. 'Racist'

Who else is becoming a little fed-up with this term that keeps popping up all over the place with no end in sight. If I don't fancy someone or something - so what? Supposing one doesn't like Eskimos! Is that forbidden or is it just that one mustn't state one's feelings openly? As far as I'm concerned, if anyone has an aversion towards the inhabitants of my own particular country they can express it as many times as they like. Why should I worry? Unfortunately, freedom of speech as a privilege seems to be fading .... or perhaps people are just too sensitive these days.

Of course, no one's capable of disliking a whole population; the designation is simply one of 'mass' when we really mean a 'handful,' and all think accordingly when saying such things as:

"He's the most irritating person on Earth."

"No one anywhere is a better teacher than Miss Brown."

"I don't like Yugoslavians."

"I detest all politicians." (Think of it. Your best friend may suddenly reveal he's standing for office).

Anyway, how could Enid Blyton fit into this category, and whereabouts was it stated that she didn't like any particular race?

2. 'Sexist'

This word tends to mean 'biased,' 'prejudiced,' 'bigoted'; then there's 'male chauvinist,' 'man believing in male superiority,' 'racist' (there's that word again, and now I'm utterly sick of it), 'woman-hater,' 'chivalrous,' and there are plenty of other meanings. My definition would be something like ' ... preferring one sex over the other,' or '... thinking one sex is superior.' Well, as far as superior strength goes, males are usually stronger than females, and I was going to say that men probably have more brains than women but I won't, because that might be labelled a 'sexist remark.'

Come to think of it, why not? Alternately - why shouldn't a woman be able to say out loud that men have less brains than females?

I think women are generally better cooks than males although, as has been mentioned before, Dagwood was recorded as saying, "All the best chefs are men!" Women are often very good at knitting and keeping the house tidy and in my opinion, one of the best writers in the world (if not the best) was a female.

Perhaps Enid Blyton didn't think girls were quite as capable as boys seeing they always had to be taken care of by dutiful males. Admittedly Anne was quite content with her role of bed-making and cooking for the masses, but George wasn't having any of it, although she had to bow down to Julian's superiority if he decided the girls couldn't take part in anything dangerous. George wanted to be a boy - and to some extent she succeeded.

Witness:-

" .... because there were,' answered Nobby. He pointed to George. 'She's a girl, though she looks like a boy. And she's as good as a boy any day."
George felt proud. She stared defiantly at Lou ..... (Caravan).
If one cares to look up the statistics it'll be found that women are at the forefront of one or two great discoveries. It was a lady (Marie Curie) who did all that stuff with radioactivity although I'm not quite intelligent enough to understand much about that.

Looking at Enid Blyton - was she bigoted? Aren't we all bigoted to some extent? I'm sure we have our firm preferences, but in what way do the author's works exude 'bigotness?' Bigoted to whom or to what?

3. 'Homophobe.'

My interpretation of that word (presuming 'phobe' means a kind of 'dislike') might be - 'A hostility towards Homo.' OK. Presumably 'Homo' is short for 'Homo sapiens,' but as the connection couldn't be figured, a dictionary had to be consulted. The word turns out to be ' .... a fear or dislike or prejudice against homosexuals.'

Now how on earth could that be applied to the author? In the world we inhabited back in England's rosy and innocent days we didn't even know what the description meant; and as for Enid Blyton supposedly disliking alternative life-stylists - how can this be construed? I think we have to conclude that because she was so successful, there are countless detractors who keep on attacking her persona in order to demean the woman.

I can remember a host of critics going on and on about Noddy and Big-Ears who were simply two guys living in the same house, and if there's any kid below the age of eleven or twelve who began weighing things up in his or her imagination after reading about the couple I'd be extremely surprised. Noddy & Big Ears are victims of prejudiced adults who entertain weird ideas about innocent relationships.

4. 'Not a very well-regarded writer.'

"Who wrote this stuff?"

That was my instant reaction to the fourth statement, and then looking up I saw the words "Royal Mint Advisory Committee."

So presumably, one of their lot sat down and produced it.

'Not a very well-regarded writer?'

That's so ridiculous, it's not even worth answering.

So I won't.

*********************

"Fury at Royal Mint coin snub for 'racist homophobe' Enid Blyton." (August, 2019)

According to the Daily Express article EB's fans weren't too happy about such a slur (that's putting it mildly) - and rightly so.