10.12.2010

It's hard out there for an elephant

And finally there was Eloise. Poor Eloise. One day
she said to one of her friends, "You know, they really just
don't want women in the business world. I'm just not
strong enough to fight it."

This page is from the 1972 book "The Day the Animals Left the Zoo" by Donata Delulio. Pictures by John Delulio, her brother. Picked it up at the library book sale for 10 cents. 

The basic plot is all the animals decide to leave the zoo and follow their passions. The giraffe wants to be a movie star, the lion wants to be a hippie in the park, and so on. For various reasons, their dream lives are not as good as the easy-going life of the zoo so they all go back and conform to society's norms.

Really? The book's message is follow your dreams but you're going to fail so you might as well go back to doing nothing? Yep, not reading this one to Will. There's already a likely chance that he'll come home after college anyway. Not to mention the sexist and other stereotypes littered through out the book. 

But poor Eloise. She'd still have it tough today. Easier but still tough.

2 comments:

  1. I had a similar "oh my gosh" moment when watching the Disney classics "Dumbo" and "Pinnochio" with the kids. Lots of stereotypes and underlying racism going on in those old films that are not worth explaining. Not saying that my children will be sheltered from life's inequalities, but I'll pass on it for now while they're young.

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  2. I want to see this book, please!

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