Well, gosh, Vee. last time I noticed men and women were definitely different biologically! Those examples seem very extreme. Are they going to have to put warnings on the covers of murder mysteries?

Wow.

Donna

Any sane thinking human will join you ......and that includes me on a good day !!

I'm another old fogey and echo all Winter said plus adding in having the nerve to say you're a Christian. My daughter read a story about a high school girl who only said she was uncomfortable sharing a dressing room where there was a transgender male among the students--and she was expelled. It boggles the mind.

Unless civilized folk stand against this movement we are doomed to suffer it.

Since the 1990s practically every reprint of classic and Golden Age mysteries I've bought have a disclaimer added that runs something like this one:

"The language and views expressed herein are those of a bygone era and, whilst probably obvious, it should still be noted that they are not shared by this publisher."

I appreciated the fact that readers incensed by those words and views can squawk all they want, but the modern publishers and reprinters would remain true to the originally printed versions.

I was startled when some of the classic llterary fiction began appearing with the same sort of disclaimers. Evidently the subject matter, characterizations, plots, and views of long-dead authors need apologies for being culturally insensitive to potential readers who hadn't been conceived when this literature was created.

The most specious argument I've heard that claims this literature needs to be suppressed or at least changed so it won't offend the particularly delicate sensibilities of certain readers nowadays goes like this: If it's wrong now, it should have been wrong then, too, so there's nothing wrong in changing or destroying something so obviously hateful. The individual reader. of course, can avoid this kind of book, but those types of readers are presumptive to think they know best for every reader! There seem to be a lot of people with that point of view these days. Do you run across them as often as I do?!

"Do you run across them as often as I do?!"

I did until I finally concluded that I liked my own company better than theirs and I reverted back to the reclusive lifestyle I enjoyed in my youth. That's not to say that I don't...on occasion...step forward at someone's request to get "involved"in one project or another...but I usually regret it. There seems to be very little natural logic....applied or inherited...these days. Does that mean that these people who spout the current sentiments of social injustice have not reasoned this attitude on their own but are imitating what they hear/read and are incapable of original thought? Now there's a scary thought!

It's called "group think" and many political factions strive for this while defining what that "think" shall be.

Sorry to be late in getting back but we have had our youngest son's 40th birthday celebrations. As he has Down's Syndrome he still lives at home with us and despite his difficulties he has a really positive and happy disposition. Even when it has been raining all day and the weather forecast is for further gales and gloom he will still say "it's bound to be sunny tomorrow." Or on a car journey in late December at 6am "I think I can see some brightness in the sky." And wearing his present of a sweatshirt with ENGLAND on the front. "We are bound to win the World Cup!" . . .

Back to the subject

Thank you for replying especially Winter and Frieda with your longer comments.

We read that many of the senior staff from top universities bend over backwards to be seen encouraging these woke tendencies.

Many texts from 'older' classics are no longer on the syllabus, students are not required to read passages, or even whole books that might upset their sensibilities. Debating societies decline to invite speakers who may make controversial remarks or have a point-of-view other than that of who? Presumably the committee who organise the debates. Some female students are moved to tears if asked to read Black Beauty; so it must be banned. I remember sobbing through Bambi, but my Mother didn't demand the movie should be turned off because her delicate little flower of a daughter had been upset.

More problems have taken place in (High) schools that 'allow' pupils to chose their own gender so they may be referred to as 'he' 'her' 'them' without any parental consultation. Or . . . parents that bring up their babies/children to be 'gender-neutral' and refuse, even when the kid starts school to tell the authorities the sex of the child.

A well-know London based clinic has been made to close its department that deals with 'gender issues' as it has offered gender-reassignment to kids as young as 8 or 9 and started boys/girls on courses of hormone blocking/altering pills.

I suppose modern authors and film-makers have to be careful in what they write or show on screen but thank goodness Wordsworth didn't put in a disclaimer "No daffodils were trampled on while being counted" or Shakespeare having to come on stage at the beginning of 'King Lear', 'Macbeth' 'Hamlet' or 'King John' etc and announcing "Ladies and Gentlemen Today's show has only moderate eye-gouging, scenes of torture, decapitation, poisoning, and arras stabbing. A safe place will be provided for those wishing to be disassociated with madness-drowning or excessive hand-washing.

Cancel culture is alive and well in the US. It's a wonder anyone here functions at all when we are all so constantly offended by everything.

If you want to offend me, you have to tell me. Otherwise, I don't pay any attention to you.

Carolyn, you made me laugh out loud!

Vee, I think wokeness probably began with good intentions -- e.g. getting rid of condescending, insulting, leering and derogatory comments in classrooms and workplaces. etc as common courtesy which some people don't understand, as it's not innate and they were not taught it. I know that I was somewhat intimidated when I was young if I was ogled and no one seemed to take what I said seriously. Sure, I eventually got over it, but I would very much have liked to 'twitch my nose' like Samantha in the Bewitched TV show to erase a few idiotic, oblivious bosses, managers, and coworkers. It's a fantasy coping mechanism of the helpless and ineffective, isn't it?

Woke-ism is awareness (wokeness) carried to the extreme. Most isms have negative connotations, I guess. One is an inversion of the other. It's a curious psychological phenomenon that people want (need) to turn things upside down periodically. Which, of course, is the polar opposite of other people who want to maintain the status quo, even to the point of ossification. .I've never been great shakes at understanding people, even though I'm fascinated --sometimes-- by the chaos they can create.

Wokeism strives to classify and divide in the most despicable ways.

Hard to spin that.

Friedag I had never thought of wokeness as being linked to what is essentially the opposite of bad manners and I don't think I have been subjected to the egs you give of inappropriate behaviour, unless one counts being whistled at by 'workmen' and they might have saved their breath if they saw me coming towards them rather than away from them . . .

We have just had a horrible eg of wokeism/cancel culture (call it what you will) and taken out of all proportion concerning a reception at Buckingham Palace for women who have made a difference in society.

The very elderly ex Lady-in-Waiting to the late Queen (and possibly slightly dotty) was meeting and greeting but her words to one of the guests were considered so inappropriate she was made to resign her duties.

The guest in question Ngozi Fulani runs a charity for black women and felt violated and attacked by Lady Susan Hussey who first moved her braids (perhaps unwisely) to read her name-tag and then asked her where she came from. Fulani didn't reply so was asked a couple more times and she answered London but balked when asked where 'her people' were from (over here 'your/my people' used by the older generation just means your 'family') Eventually she said 'Africa'.

It was lucky that Fulani had come 'wired for sound' so could repeat the conversation . . . on numerous occasions to several TV and news outlets.

She is not from Africa, though wore a tribal outfit, nor is Ngozi Fulani her real name. it is Marlene Headly and her parents were from Barbados. She dislikes the Royal Family and what they stand for, is a supporter of MM (M Sussex), runs a self-segregation charity and is what might be known as a race-baiter. She has certainly put herself firmly on the map and by her wokeism has put race-relations back by several years.

Other people 'of colour' at the reception when asked similar questions by Lady Susan, just named the place they were from . . . no bother.

That incident at Buckingham Palace between Ms. Fulani and Lady Susan Hussey made the news here in the Islands as well. I had to read the exhange several times before I could figure out what was going on. I don't keep my antennae positioned in the right direction to pick up nuances, I suppose.

If the transcription is accurate, I cringe over Lady S's words, tone, and attitude. But I can't make a judgment over her intention because I don't know anything else about this Lady. Does she have a history of doing this sort of thing?

As for Ms. Fulani, the chip on her shoulder seems to have been about to fall anyway (good reason or not), so it probably didn't take much to knock it completely loose.

Vee, thanks for that info. I was keeping an open mind on the event. The late Queen would enquire where people were from, out of interest and no one objected to that. I suppose Lady Susan was doing the same but perhaps a little more forcefully.

As a City Councillors wife I used to attend receptions for new citizenship ceremonies and people would tell you where they had come from, to introduce themselves and the family.

Annpan, I still get the "Where are you from?" question after living in this area since the early 1970's. I suppose in my case it's because I speak more-or-less RP English and the older people here are still slightly suspicious of incomers. They (the locals) in their turn are often mistaken for Welsh people and are very offended. I have a VA cousin living near the border of WVA, her husband is from CT. He is frequently asked where he is from or more likely "You aint from around around these parts are you?"

And on the Welsh theme. It is still possible to go into a Welsh shop where the locals will stop talking English and start up in Welsh. One friend was in a pub in Wales and could only get the locals to remember how to speak English when he offered to buy them a drink! "I'll have a half."

Frieda, nuances used to be all-important over here, less so now. So poor Lady S (well into her 80's and 'kept on; after the death of QE who she had served since 1960) was probably quite out of her depth when confronted by the aggressive woman. She should have tried the other Royal 'opener' "Have you come far?" allowing the guest to describe the horrors of the car journey, the hold-ups and jams, or the cancelled/late trains and the difficulty in getting a taxi to the Palace while the Royal Eyes glaze over as they search for an equerry to rescue them.

So many terrible things happening in the world at present but a story on an inquisitive elderly woman going global? If there hadn't been a Royal connection would any news outlet have bothered to feature it?

Vee, from what you reported, it seems that there was some sympathy for Lady Susan as the hostile background of the complainant was mentioned.

Although she may miss the receptions, there is a lot to be said for putting up your feet and quietly drinking a nice cup of tea at home instead!

Vee, the comment on newish/different speech patterns people in small Kentucky communities is "He must be from off."

Will we all be a-quiver when Meghan's 'Truth' comes out or later when Harry's book Spare hits the shelves?

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child."

Shakespeare 'King Lear'

Vee, I can't wait to miss anything and everything 'revealed' by that pair. I'll probably practice a little 'cancel culture' of my own by ignoring them as much as possible. There's no requirement yet to pay any attention to them, is there? Personal choice still reigns, so far as I know. :-)

Frieda, my DH, usually not at all interested in any of this type of gossip asked yesterday "Once H and M have written about/filmed/complained about ALL the perceived wrongs done to them in the very short time before they 'relocated' to the US to live a private life, how are they going to make money?"

From the amounts quoted that they have received so far, the money shouldn't run out soon!

Then there are the Woman's mags for stories about MM and the children growing up, unless they are off-limits.