Golliwogs/Gollies

[Rob Houghton]

Everyone speaks in stereotypes these days and that article writer is no exception, suggesting that if we like gollies we are somehow rightwing racists! I get a bit fed up, these days, of other people (usually the media!) telling me what I am and how I should think. According to the fact I happen to support a well-known political leader, I'm apparently a 'leftist Trot' and now I'm a rightwing racist. A few months ago I was a Remain whinger and a bad loser. The media are so indignantly self righteous these days, and we are breeding a race of people who think not for themselves but only as the media want them to think. The golliwog debate is one such example and the woman who spewed out that article (which I can't bring myself to read) is just perpetuating sad myths which most of the population choose to believe. I find it depressing.

I also find it interesting that people who spew their hatred as she has done, never get their facts right, giving the book its incorrect title, naming the characters wrongly, and as Anita says, not bothering to mention the many positive golly role models Enid created.

[Deej92]

Rob, I don't think you are a 'right-wing racist'. Although I agree with most of the article (albeit there are some inaccuracies and generalisations), I would still respect the right of someone to buy or sell a golliwog as I've always maintained.

As for you being labelled a 'leftist Trot' and a 'Remain whinger', I can sympathise with you on that one. Although I am not a big Corbyn fan (if that is who you're referring to in the leader you support?), I am a Labour party member with political views which lean to the left, and I don't agree with the description of all his supporters being 'leftist trots' which you hear a lot from his critics in the right-wing press and MPs. Many are younger people who just want to engage in a different type of politics which fights for equality, social justice and a fairer society. Nothing wrong with that. One supporting a 'Socialist' Labour party hardly makes one a 'Marxist' or 'Trot', as after all the party was founded to promote Socialism.

As for being a 'Remain whinger, I also voted to 'Remain' in the EU referendum and am a strong supporter of the EU. I too have had the same comments aimed at me, accusing me of whinging and 'not respecting democracy, so I get how you feel there also.

[Lucky Star]

However, I'm not going to try to stop others obtaining one. That's the attitude I'd like to see people take regarding golliwogs!

You hit the nail on the head thee Anita. This is exactly the issue. Gollies are not sold in mainstream outlets they are sold in private specialist shops such as Ginger Pop. Such shops usually have a very small display o fthem. If you don't want one don't buy it. If it really offends you that much then walk out without buying anything. But kindly recognise that not everyone shares your self righteous ire and leave the shop owner alone to sell his/her goods in peace.

[Deej92]

Like a few others here, I don't find the "English Freedom" tea-towel appealing (incidentally, one thing nobody has pointed out is that "parliamentary" is spelt wrongly as "parliamentry") so I won't be buying one. However, I'm not going to try to stop others obtaining one. That's the attitude I'd like to see people take regarding golliwogs!

Thanks for that analysis, Anita. Some good points made there. As I've said to Rob, although I agree with most of the article (albeit there are some inaccuracies and generalisations), I would still respect the right of someone to buy or sell a golliwog as I've always maintained.

[Courtenay]

I couldn't agree more with everything you've posted, Anita. I don't so much mind people calling attention to the fact that yes, some people (including some black people) do find golliwogs offensive. But others (again including black people) don't. What I do object to is the idea that anyone who likes golliwogs is consciously or unconsciously racist and right-wing and buying into a sickening reminder of a past that should be dead and buried. Like Anita and others have indicated, that's just slapping a stereotype on people one doesn't agree with — a stereotype that's probably more stupid, ignorant and damaging than any stereotype that golliwogs themselves can be said to represent. And Suzanne Moore's largely very inaccurate comments about Enid Blyton and her portrayals of golliwogs show yet again how Enid is constantly co-opted as a purveyor of "racism" by people who clearly aren't familiar with her books, but just want to grab a figure from the past to blame for whatever's perceived to be wrong in society then or now.

As for golliwogs being "popular" in Australia, that's the first this Australian has heard of it!! We never had Robertson's jam, but we used to have a variety of Arnott's biscuits called "Golliwogs" that were in the shape of the eponymous toy; they were renamed "Scallywags" in the 1990s or so, then got dropped entirely. Golliwogs themselves, as toys, were certainly available when I was little, usually in knitted form at local fetes and craft markets, but I don't think I've seen one since, again, about the 1990s — the same time when gollies were being deleted from Enid Blyton books and so on. If they are sold in Australia now, it'll also be by small independent providers and craftspeople, definitely not by any mainstream toyshops. We do have our own problems with racism and race relations in Australia, just like Britain and many other countries, but I really can't see that golliwogs are, or have been, any major contributor to those issues. Again, a golliwog, in and of itself, can't make an unprejudiced child or adult into a racist one — and the absence of golliwogs won't make someone who already IS racially prejudiced less racist.

[number 6]

I vaguely remember posting a comment on the forum a few years ago regarding a day trip to Whitby. To cut a long story short, I stood looking into a shop window where Golliwogs were being displayed. Next to me stood a Black lady. We both entered the shop. She immediately went straight up to the counter. I thought that she had gone in to make a complaint. How wrong I was. She picked up five Golliwogs & paid for them. I think she told the lady behind the counter that she had bought one for each of her grandchildren! Whether she was oblivious to the controversy surrounding Golliwogs, or whether she just saw them as play dolls is debatable. She certainly seemed quite chuffed with them, though!

[Carlotta King]

Your post backs up what I have thought for a long time (and posted here somewhere I think). Whern we hear that things are supposedly offensive to black people, I always wonder if its actually black people complaining or if its white people assuming that black people will be offended, without any actual evidence that black people genuinely are offended!!

[Rob Houghton]

I think you are probably right, Carlotta. I have often wondered how many women are offended over women's issues, how many gays are offended over gay issues, and how many ethnic minorities are truly offended over issues that the 'people who protest' say they should be offended over. How many obese people are ever interviewed over 'fat' issues, for example? It always seems to be the same type of white middle-class interviewee who is prepared to speak up for every minority group!

[Moonraker]

I always wonder if its actually black people complaining or if its white people assuming that black people will be offended

Probably Guardian journalists and other PC guardians (pun not intended!).

[Deej92]

Probably Guardian journalists and other PC guardians (pun not intended!).

There's a lot of stereotyping going on here about white middle-class liberals and the Guardian newspaper who they supposedly represent crying racism at everything. Equally so, the Daily Mail in contrast is suspicious of these liberals and say that people's 'free speech' shouldn't be undermined in the name of 'political correctness'. Any more stereotypes?

Ultimately, the right opinion is somewhere in the middle I guess. Yes, some people are genuinely concerned about gollies being racist and don't deserve to be simply branded as PC, but then there are those who don't find them racist and want to buy and sell them. So maybe we should live and let live

[number 6]

Your post backs up what I have thought for a long time (and posted here somewhere I think). Whern we hear that things are supposedly offensive to black people, I always wonder if its actually black people complaining or if its white people assuming that black people will be offended, without any actual evidence that black people genuinely are offended!!

Yes, that's a fair comment. The Black lady mentioned in my last post was certainly chuffed with her purchase.& left a satisfied customer. However, I didn't take into consideration whether any Black or White people had complained to the shop owner prior to her visit to the shop...or afterwards, for that matter! I must stress that I respect an individual's views on this subject, but ultimately it's the individual who has to make up their own mind whether they find Golliwogs offensive or not, regardless whether he/she is Black or White! It's a debate that will undoubtably go on for many years to come.

[joanne_chan]

I'm less interested in the arguments although I have a point of view as much lack of tolerance of differing and competing views on a less than settled issue where there are bigger questions to be asked about how as a society we treat each other now feeling that really should be the priority for those interested in a more just world (which is a worthy aim).
People who have no issue with gollies are no more or less racist or hold any other ism than people who feel different and order for us all to get by we need to see this whatever our views might be.

[John Pickup]

A very sensible and accurate post from Anita. I take absolutely no notice of articles written by so-called journalists who can't be bothered to check their facts and obviously have an axe to grind. I bought a golliwog from Viv back in July for my 18 month old granddaughter. She loves it, plays with it and cuddles it. If the thought police want to come round and castigate me for encouraging my granddaughter to be a racist, I'm ready for you.
What really irritates me is how so-called Enid Blyton lovers constantly post about her racist tendencies. If people are genuinely offended by Enid's writing perhaps they should go and read someone else and leave us alone to enjoy her work.

[Rob Houghton]

What really irritates me is how so-called Enid Blyton lovers constantly post about her racist tendencies. If people are genuinely offended by Enid's writing perhaps they should go and read someone else and leave us alone to enjoy her work.

Exactly my thoughts! For example, there's a Harry potter thread on here somewhere, which I have hardly ever bothered with, because I'm not a fan of Harry Potter. I don't post endless diatribes about how rubbishy Harry potter is and how uninspiring I find the writing!

[Deej92]

What really irritates me is how so-called Enid Blyton lovers constantly post about her racist tendencies. If people are genuinely offended by Enid's writing perhaps they should go and read someone else and leave us alone to enjoy her work.

If this is aimed at me, I am a big fan of Enid Blyton and have grown up reading and enjoying many of her books. I enjoy Famous Five, Secret Seven, Find Outers, the Naughtiest Girl series, the 90s TV series and so much more.

On the issue of gollies, yes I am critical as I genuinely believe them to be rather derogatory caricatures of black people. This criticism is not specifically aimed at Enid's work though, as gollies weren't invented by her and have been used in many other forms of literature and other work.

Regardless of my criticism though, this doesn't make me any less of a Blyton fan than yourself as you insinuate in this post. Your post is what I mean about others being unaccommodating towards other people's views. You would rather label anyone with concerns about gollies and racism as the thought police and not have us post on here at all. I find that very sad.