Now Presenting, Ronald Doll !
*I will need to be brief, like a piece abridged. Apologies in advance!
It seems to me that works which are "sanitized," are tampered with not to be made "clean," but to be made "quick," eliminating the "messy" bits, which would require/ and build-up our mental muscle. Such exercise is not much desired, because a strong audience has greater demands and asks for more (more nuance, more originality). These are attributes which poorly suit mass-production for mass-consumption, and the prescribed uniformity that follows.
Absence doesn't teach... The gaps remaining create anxiety, not a bridge to understanding. Fat, ugly, dumb do not disappear. Instead, each concept is apt to fester as a sore on the self-esteem, becoming doubly hurtful without proper wording to define "it." We are better advised to name it, identify it, and ask why its distinction is of such importance to us.
On a personal note, I have been teaching at Head Start since 2019... things have been rough as teacher/ psychologist to traumatized tots with families suffering from poverty, homelessness, and all forms of abuse. These children enter preschool minimally verbal, their first language being physical aggression (hitting, biting). Instinctively, they are protecting their little selves from the “unknown.” As they gain words, they very soon banter "stupid," "ugly," and assorted profanity, articulating an underlying fear-of-worthlessness as reflected by their closest adults. Would removing these words from books change children's vocabulary??? No, their daily life has more influence than any language trapped in books—books incidentally which they might never read at all.
The bruises and behavior reports got so bad in our classroom that we side stepped prescribed curriculum (God bless!) and read aloud Sleeping Ugly, a spin on Sleeping Beauty featuring beautiful Princess Miserella (who is selfish and cold on the inside) and her counterpart Plain Jane, who treats everyone the same— in fairness most becoming. The kids gasped at every pointed use of Stupid! and Ugly! that spilled ungraciously from Princess Miserella's mouth, asking to see the pictures again, and again, in fascination. And then, in what is called Choice Time play, they would balk when a peer "forgot" the lesson, saying "Him/ Her actin' like Miserella!" It is a slow go, but it's a start. (*We're working on the grammar too, sigh, but is not the priority*)
Books can only have value if there is some depth of discussion around them. The authors, and their content, are resultants of an upbringing, too, worthy of respect and evaluation in context. We love Roald Dahl at home. The BFG is one of Rémy Niko's favorites, especially when read with theatrical gusto by his Papa... and Mama makes sure to take an opportune moment to question the whys and examine the "we don'ts." Like we don't call people names; and violence of any form is not okay.
Even ripping out words from a page.