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.
He is the embodiment of what Richard Wasserstrom calls the "assimilationist ideal." According to this concept "people are not socialized so as to see or understand themselves or others as essentially or significantly who they were or what their lives would be like because they were either male or female" (788). The assimilationist society is the antidote to a sex-role-differentiated social organization where traditionally power is concentrated in the hands of males. The characterization of the wolf echoes Joyce Trebilcot's notion of androgynism as well. Based on the distinction between sex and gender —the former a biological, the latter a psychosocial factor —Trebilcot recognizes the existence of poly and mono-androgynism. The mono-androgynist model is founded upon the notion of pure femininity and masculinity establishing a gender-based division of labor in the process. The poly-androgynist framework is technically a combination of male and female psychosocial characteristics (Trebilcot 794—803). The wolf follows the latter model as he on one hand devours the grandmother, committing aggression, thus displaying an allegedly male feature in the process. On the other hand he finds a sense of community with Grandma and LRRH and echoes the "feelgood I am O.K., You are O.K." philosophy of the early 1980's. Affirming PC's obsession with victimhood and the complaint mode, he also appears in a positive light as a victim of specieism, the notion of humans' alleged superiority over the other elements of the natural world. While the Grandmother's character symbolizes the elderly in society, the story attempts to fight this group's stereotypical image and replaces the ailing senior citizen with an active mature person slaying the woodchopper. Consequently following PC's twisted logic, the true villain is the lumberjack. Not because he committed evil acts, but by his position and group affiliation as a victimizer of females and the environment Since the PC version of LRRH is a morality tale as well, certain conclusions about the story's message must be drawn. The tale teaches one basic lesson, the immorality and depravity of discrimination as only those characters survive unscathed which are not guilty of prejudicial acts or statements. It reinforces the nationwide obsession with victimhood and promotes such role models as the liberated feminist woman and the 137
