The Distance: Gender Critical Story Time

On Jacks, Giants, and Beanstalks, but Without the Disneyfication Effect

Matt Osborne — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 15:01:04 GMT

Did you know that beans are high in protein, something that might have been lacking in the average diet of a British child in the 1790s? Do you understand that ‘spare sons’ are cannon fodder, that wards of the state end up crushed by great, insensitive fingers? If that makes you think of Stewie Griffin reacting to the Queen album cover, then what sort of preparation do you think children get from this take on the classic fairy tale? The giant is Nerfed. He’s almost friendly. No sense of threat, of being ground and consumed, is even suggested by this image. “The giant is awesome, kids! He just picks you up and carries you around his magic fantasy-gated community!”

We were a bit pressed for time unfortunately. But the first published version is a very short story! Here is the music that I referenced.

Hansel and Gretel and the Hunger of the Witch

Matt Osborne — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 14:13:00 GMT

This was a spooktacular evening! We talked about the eternal wisdom of the fairy tale. We also noted that neither Disney nor the transgender writers dare to appropriate Hansel and Gretel.

Here is Edie Wyatt’s essay on the gender clinics as the witch’s house. You can compare the 1812 and 1857 versions of the Grimm classic side by side at this link.

The musical selection was “If I Had a Heart” by Fever Ray.

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Gender Critical Story Time: Pinocchio and the Mighty Roar of the Real Boy

Matt Osborne — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 14:00:45 GMT

We had such a great time on Wednesday night. Thanks to everyone who took part or tuned in to the Twitter/X space.

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi is very different from the Disney version. In fact, during the course of our discussion we formed a consensus that Walt Disney changed the Collodi text in ways that set up false expectations in succeeding generations of children and sapped the story of meaning. Magical thinking at ‘woke’ Disney today merely intensifies this effect to new ends. Academic ‘queer’ readings of the text that we examined all refer to the Disney Pinocchio instead of Collodi’s text.

The musical selection here is “Welcome to the Fold” by Filter.

We will discuss Hansel and Gretel next time at 8 PM on Wednesday, 18 October 2023.

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Gender Critical Story Time: 'Little Mermaid' and the Poor Unfortunate Soul

Matt Osborne — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 14:00:38 GMT

On Wednesday evening, I had a wonderful Twitter/X space with Amy Sousa. She is a tireless advocate for women and children against gender ideology. This is a link to her Substack, this is a link to her Twitter/X, and this is a link to her YouTube channel. Amy has been a collaborator in the past and this turned out to be a stellar show.

During the space recording, I mentioned this article from last December.

Many thanks to everyone who took part. We had great input and questions and it was probably the most fun I have ever had on the app.

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'Show Me How To Live': A Gender Critical Story Time With Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'

Matt Osborne — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 23:00:12 GMT

Wednesday night we had a great Twitter/X space to discuss Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as an allegory for transgenderism. Shelley was wrestling with the results of the French Revolution, a theme that resonates with the most controversial consequences of the feminist revolution in our time. Her novel still enchants readers because it stands at the transition point from pseudoscience to science, from obscurantist alchemy to biochemistry. We use the text to reference autogynephilia as well as detransitioners. Listeners had excellent suggestions for future episodes. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Here are the lyrics to the Audioslave song “Show me How to Live” referenced in the recording.

And with the early dawn
Moving right along
I couldn't buy an eye full of sleep
And in the aching night under satellites
I was not received

Built with stolen parts
A telephone in my heart
Someone get me a priest
To put my mind to bed
This ringing in my head
Is this a cure or is this a disease?

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

And in the after birth
On the quiet earth
Let the stains remind you
You thought you made a man
You better think again
Before my role defines you

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

And in your waiting hands
I will land, and roll out of my skin
And in your final hours I will stand
Ready to begin
Ready to begin
Ready to begin
Ready to begin

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life
Now show me how to live

Show me how to live
Show me how to live
Show me how to live
Show me how to live

Gender Critical Story Time 2: Poetic Boogaloo

Matt Osborne — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 16:03:07 GMT

Donovan Cleckley joined me on a Tiwtter space the other night to hold another edition of Gender Critical Story Hour. He read selections from the work of Shel Silverstein. We discussed the controversial poet’s biography, the themes of his work, and the value of the poetic form for dissecting genderwoo. I even recited a Silverstein poem I learned decades ago. This was a lot of fun and I intend to bring back Gender Critical Story Hour in two weeks, after the holiday.

Gender Critical Story Time: Many Moons

Matt Osborne — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 20:00:11 GMT

During my weekly Twitter space last night, I read the book Many Moons by James Thurbur as an example of how to push back against drag queens in libraries and schoolhouse indoctrination with tales of embodiment and growth.

Published in 1943, this classic children’s story is richly illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. It tells the story of a king, his beloved daughter Lenore, and his “wise men” failing to understand the real needs of a little girl. An avid listener also read a version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood. Donovan Cleckley had a few observations to add.

If you would like to read a story — new, old, borrowed, or stolen — for Gender Critical Story Hour, please contact me on Twitter. All my spaces are scheduled for 8 PM central time on Wednesday evenings.