The chief censor of the great children’s author Roald Dahl has now been revealed, and it’s Jo Ross-Barrett, a person with they/them pronouns who describes themselves as a ‘”non-binary, asexual, polyamorous relationship anarchist who is on the autism spectrum.”
Whoa. That’s a lot of words to describe your identity. I’m more tight-lipped—my identity is “dude.”
Now I’m fine with you living your life as you see fit, and calling yourself whatever makes you happy, but how on earth do you think you have the qualifications or right to change the words of an author infinitely more accomplished than yourself?
The woke editors who mutilated the works of children's author Roald Dahl were led on their mission to not offend by an individual, Jo Ross Barrett who describes herself as a 'non-binary, asexual, polyamorous relationship anarchist; who is on the autism spectrum.' Ffs. Night.
🙄 pic.twitter.com/SpfZJC9bav— Sherlock Holmes (@Baskerville448) March 2, 2023
I’ve written about how the changes to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” personally ticked me off, because Dahl’s language is exquisite, and my father read it to me, my brother, and my sister when we were young ‘uns. Who is this person, and how does the censor think they should be allowed to take away my memories, and make sure future generations never have them?
On the wordsmith’s page at Ace Inclusion Consultancy, Ross-Barrett notes “several years of experience,” and describes skills acquired:
My areas of expertise include autism, aromantic- and asexual-spectrum topics, the bi umbrella, children’s books, illustration, interactive narratives, intersectional feminism, mental health, non-binary gender, relationship education, sex and puberty education.
Is Ross-Barrett the author of any notable children’s books? Apparently not. However, the censorious “inclusion ambassador” has penned pieces such as “Privilege and Privation, The Bi-ble: Volume One,” and “A Period Piece, So Hormonal.” You can hire said person for public speaking for £150 per hour (or about $180).
Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed. https://t.co/sdjMfBr7WW
— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) February 18, 2023
It’s unclear if Ross-Barrett still works for Ace Inclusion; DailyMail reports that the person recently departed another such company, Inclusive Minds, to become a full-time DEI professional. But in the censor’s work for Puffin, the British publisher of Dahl’s treasured works, Ross-Barrett oversaw a group of these co-called inclusivity ambassadors and sensitivity readers who were aged eight to 30.
So much combined knowledge. I frankly can’t understand what’s being said here:
"Significant Others: Aspec, Polyamory and Relationship Anarchy" by Jo Ross-Barrett, published on AZE in 2020, was cited in the book "Ace Voices: What it Means to Be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace" (2022)! 🎉https://t.co/PX5UsCdWos
— AZE (@azejournal) November 30, 2022
As my colleague Becca Lower reported, changes to Dahl’s work were far-reaching:
Considerable edits have been made to descriptions of the characters’ physical appearance – the new editions no longer use the word ‘fat’ which has been cut from every book, The Telegraph
Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can now only be described as ‘enormous’.
That’s only one of the changes; there were many more.
If you’ve read my work before, you might notice I’m a little extra snarky on this one. That’s because I find the effort to sanitize the works of great authors repugnant. It has nothing to do with inclusivity; rather, it smacks of a radical social agenda. I have no problem with Ross-Barrett writing strange-sounding books and promoting a personal agenda to those who are interested. However, I have a big problem with the person bastardizing the works of someone else and changing the well-crafted words of an author who is no longer alive to defend his work—and foisting these agendas on children.
Thankfully, some sanity has emerged from this idiotic episode, as French and Norwegian publishers have pointedly refused to alter Dahl’s work, and American imprints have also surprisingly decided not to cave in. I say “surprisingly” because nary a day seems to go by without some US company bowing to the woke mob.
It may seem silly to get riled up over words in children’s books, but it’s a sign of the times, and the effort to change so many innocuous things that do not need to be changed in the name of “inclusion” and “diversity” is anything but silly.
It’s dangerous, and it must be stopped, and censors like Ross-Barrett need to be called out.
