"Ignorance is power"? About Russian edition of “Good Night story for Rebel Girls”
“Ignorance is power?”
Orwell's quote (or perhaps Russian goverment's?)
I really like the book “Good Night Story for Rebel Girls”. This is the best feminist book for children that has ever been translated into Russian, so I bought it for my little brother, and he loved it too.
Needless to say, I was disappointed when I moved to England and saw the original. Because in the Russian book, there were so many changes!
The Russian edition doesn’t mention the journalist Anna Politkovskaya being persecuted by the Russian government.
The Russian edition doesn’t talk about the court intrigues of the Empress Catherine the Great (In the Russian book Catherine is portrayed as the “cute” queen with a pretty crown, not a strong, powerful woman she actually was).
The one thing that made me really furious was the absence of the story about a trans girl Koy Mathis. The Russian publishers simply cut this story out of the book! Probably thanks to the pathetic Russian “gay propaganda” law, according to which young people under the age of 18 must not see a positive image of LGBT people.
(This law is based on the nonsensical idea that LGBT can “indoctrinate” young people and “convince” cis straight youth to “turn” queer).
So, I was very angry.
Because it seems to me that the story of Koy Mathis would be important for children.
This is a powerful story, because it is the story of a child who was able to change her society. Koy Mathis is the youngest heroine of the book for young people, which makes her story special.
And this is a very useful story — it could help cis children better understand trans people, and it could help trans children (especially girls) understand that they are not alone, that people like them really exist and can be themselves. You know, representation matters!
Russian officials think differently though. They believe that “ignorance is power.” They believe that by depriving LGBT youth of support and information, they are going to protect them. Or not? I think, the Russian government uses youth to justify their own homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.
At any rate, they do not consider LGBT youth to be REAL human beings!
And this is one more example of the intersection between queerphobia and ageism.
(Photo of the book "Good Nights Stories for Rebel Girls” vol. I in Russian edition)