Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)
STUDIES - András Tarnóc: "Who is Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Reflections of Political Correctness in a Distorted Mirror.
free social order. Robert Hughes, however, elaborately illustrated the linguistic futility of the anti-"man" campaign as the suffix in Old English was gender-neutral. LRRH's selection for the task of bringing food to her grandmother is not governed by a sexist division of labor pattern but by a need to create a feeling of community. The original premise of the grandmother's health problems is discarded in order to combat prejudice against the elderly. The young girl's fear of the woods, a crucial element in the original story, is ommitted as an example of Freudian (Western) thinking. Similarly to the other tale the protagonist is confronted by a wolf, who brings the white, sexist male to mind. Hie description of the wolfs "slavish adherence to linear, Western style thought" is an expression of PC's rejection of Western culture. The author uses a euphemism to describe blindness (optically challenged) in order to avoid appearing ableist or prejudiced against handicapped (less able) people. The reference to Grandma's big nose is softened in an effort to fend off the charges of lookism, the discrimination based on physical appearance. While in the original story the lumbeijack (woodchopper person) was the savior of Grandma and LRRH, here he is cruelly rebuked when about to interfere in the conflict between the wolf and the young girl. After being called a "sexist and a specieist," he is killed by Grandma who jumps out of the wolfs mouth, leaving little doubt that even the helpful intentions of white males are interpreted as manifestations of sexist behavior. The closing section with the establishment of an alternative household with the surviving characters is a manifestation of the challenge against the traditional male-dominated family pattern in which, according to The Official Sexually Correct Dictionary and Dating Guide , one faces the constant threat of rape and murder (Beard 53). As in any morality tale, the characters serve as symbols. While in the previous story the wolf and the three pigs represented certain elements of American culture and components of a geopolitical equation, the PC version of LRRH describes a confrontation between the sexes. There is an ironic 135
