Gollywogs are back!
#91
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,375
Re: Gollywogs are back!
So wrong but very popular at the time....
"Coon songs were a genre of music popular in the United States and around the English-speaking world from 1880[1] to 1920[2], that presented a racist and stereotyped image of blacks."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_song
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...oncooncoon.jpg
"Coon songs were a genre of music popular in the United States and around the English-speaking world from 1880[1] to 1920[2], that presented a racist and stereotyped image of blacks."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_song
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...oncooncoon.jpg
That record cover, I saw it about a month ago at a jumble sale ( village fair ) at the retirement village.
Those sales are a absolute gem sometimes, a lot of stuff that came out with the ten pound poms.
#92
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,038
Gollywogs are back!
But to me the first one is a doll which is played with as though the child is playing with another child, recreating lifelike scenarios, therefore should be lifelike. The second one is a cuddly toy which isn't lifelike, in much the same way that an Elmer the Elephant isn't lifelike.
Children do not differentiate between colours in people until they have been taught to do so by circumstance. Show a gollywog to a child and they will see a cuddly toy with a happy face, they will not see a negative representation of a black person unless forced to do so by an adult. It only becomes a racist toy when an adult evaluates it against history and personal perception. Imo anyway.
Children do not differentiate between colours in people until they have been taught to do so by circumstance. Show a gollywog to a child and they will see a cuddly toy with a happy face, they will not see a negative representation of a black person unless forced to do so by an adult. It only becomes a racist toy when an adult evaluates it against history and personal perception. Imo anyway.
Excellent post.........back to that little old chestnut........nature or nurture.
Wish I could give you some Karma moneypenny20, but apparently I have to spread the love around first.
#93
Re: Gollywogs are back!
I agree with that & add that if you surveyed the over 40"a and asked what they associate a golliwog with 90 % would say Robertson jam or marmalade. Not racism or derogatory re marks
#94
Re: Gollywogs are back!
And therein lies the problem. We (on this site) have come from a multicultural society where being openly racist is no longer tolerated. Many Australians however see absolutely nothing wrong in making that kind of comment in public. So we might see them as a harmless bit of nostalgia but in this country selling them just perpetuates the belief that racism is acceptable.
If anything selling them in Britain would be worse where a Golliwog reference is more culturally relevant.
#95
Excessively Diverted
Joined: Jan 2012
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 214
Re: Gollywogs are back!
And if you asked me what I associate Coon with the answer is cheese. I don't know when I learnt the other connotation but it was not until my 20's. Frankly I can't bring myself to type some of the other terms in this thread. It just does't feel right and I don't give them air.
#96
Re: Gollywogs are back!
And if you asked me what I associate Coon with the answer is cheese. I don't know when I learnt the other connotation but it was not until my 20's. Frankly I can't bring myself to type some of the other terms in this thread. It just does't feel right and I don't give them air.
#97
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Attitudes towards non-whites, by whites, changed. I would say that that was a net gain, given what those attitudes used to entail. Those images used to be perfectly acceptable in the context of a highly racist society. Things have changed, so yes, people then decided that the use of images of racial stereotyping is now unacceptable. Time has moved on.
You will not get rid of racism by not creating gollliwogs. Rather, continuing to find them acceptable is more of a symptom of the work yet to be done.
You will not get rid of racism by not creating gollliwogs. Rather, continuing to find them acceptable is more of a symptom of the work yet to be done.
#98
Re: Gollywogs are back!
I had a home-made golly as a child and I collected Robertsons gollies from jam pots to save up for the free badges. I never associated them with real people. Soft toys were not so common soon after the war and a golly was an easy thing to make at home. Most kids had only one or two soft toys as they just weren't available or cheap. I wouldn't buy one now because times have changed, but you can't impose today's social standards retrospectively. Lots of things that were taboo or extremely bad taste then are acceptable today.
#99
Re: Gollywogs are back!
I disagree. Being openly racist is accepted is both the UK and Australia and it is no longer tolerated in multicultural UK or multicultural Australia. Just depends on the group/place/demographic of the people you are talking to in both countries.
If anything selling them in Britain would be worse where a Golliwog reference is more culturally relevant.
If anything selling them in Britain would be worse where a Golliwog reference is more culturally relevant.
One of my best pals is black and lives here. Have discussed this tonight with her and she says although they (the Aussies) don't know how offensive the word is, it's up to us to keep telling them it's not acceptable. Her thoughts on the golliwog are that 'it's taking the piss out of black people'. Nothing at all like the Russian/Indian etc dolls you can buy. I've been with her when Aussies have made awful awful comments right to her face, they think it's lighthearted and in jest. This is what needs to change in this country.
#100
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Really? You think someone in the UK would happily say to a random customer in a shop 'I had to get out of the sun I looked like a N*****'?
One of my best pals is black and lives here. Have discussed this tonight with her and she says although they (the Aussies) don't know how offensive the word is, it's up to us to keep telling them it's not acceptable. Her thoughts on the golliwog are that 'it's taking the piss out of black people'. Nothing at all like the Russian/Indian etc dolls you can buy. I've been with her when Aussies have made awful awful comments right to her face, they think it's lighthearted and in jest. This is what needs to change in this country.
One of my best pals is black and lives here. Have discussed this tonight with her and she says although they (the Aussies) don't know how offensive the word is, it's up to us to keep telling them it's not acceptable. Her thoughts on the golliwog are that 'it's taking the piss out of black people'. Nothing at all like the Russian/Indian etc dolls you can buy. I've been with her when Aussies have made awful awful comments right to her face, they think it's lighthearted and in jest. This is what needs to change in this country.
We all have anecdotes of racism (would you like a long list of UK ones?) but I think we bring our own bias/nationalism and blind spots to the table when we decide which country is the more racist. There are racists everywhere and it up to you and me to speak up both here and the UK.
Last edited by fish.01; May 21st 2012 at 11:19 am.
#101
Re: Gollywogs are back!
#102
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Yes I do, or an equivalent. Not where you lived, but in some places. I disagree with you totally. I have been in public situations in the UK where the overt racism or nationalism was overwhelming to me and of course golliwogs are sold in uk shops as well. The idea that most aussies don't know how offensive the N****** word is is quite odd. Why have I lived 40+ years in Australia without hearing a shopkeeper say it? Just lucky given "many" have to be constantly reminded? What rock do you think we all have been under?
We all have anecdotes of racism (would you like a long list of UK ones?) but I think we bring our own bias/nationalism and blind spots to the table when we decide which country is the more racist. There are racists everywhere and it up to you and me to speak up both here and the UK.
We all have anecdotes of racism (would you like a long list of UK ones?) but I think we bring our own bias/nationalism and blind spots to the table when we decide which country is the more racist. There are racists everywhere and it up to you and me to speak up both here and the UK.
In London when I go home now my coloured friends joke that I've probably joined the 'clan' I've been in Oz so long. I think one of the most defining aspects of life in Qld is the racism and the self-imposed segregation (FNQ at least) between whites and aboriginals. My first day in Sydney too - I asked for a cab number from a lady in the street and was told 'if you can find one who speaks English and doesn't stink'..... Sorry, I just have never heard anything like this in the UK ever. I might exaggerate about some of the odder and more backward aspects about life in FNQ sometimes but the attitudes on race are hard fact.
#103
Re: Gollywogs are back!
What company is making them?
It would be interesting if it were a company making them for Aussies that doesn't make them for anyone else.
#105
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Most things are from China now, regardless of the company that's selling them, so the odds of the Daily Mail getting that one right are higher than usual.
Last edited by Lion in Winter; May 21st 2012 at 12:11 pm.