Every time I see something stupid like this happen in the United Kingdom, I figure it's only a matter of time before it happens here if it hasn't already. So this is your reminder to stay on top of your children's and grandchildren's school curricula if you're not currently doing so.
Students in the U.K. as young as 11 years old are learning about important figures in history, but with a side of stupidity, apparently. Specifically, they're being taught that Joan of Arc was "non-binary," despite the fact that there is no actual proof of this and despite the fact that this wasn't really even a concept until the late 20th century. (For those who are unaware, Joan, or Jeanne if you're French, lived and died during the 15th century).
It all stems from a book called the "Who We Are" anthology, which is published by Collins Publishers and is being used in British secondary school classrooms.
Lefties who buy into this gender ideology nonsense, feminists, and other undesirables have been trying to make Joan into some sort of woke icon who tore down the patriarchy for quite some time now, but making this assumption and using it to educate young minds in schools takes the cake, especially when the only leg they have to stand on is that the young woman cut her hair short and wore clothing similar to men's. It's pure fantasy being taught as fact.
As Hélène de Lauzun of the European Conservative wrote, "Jeanne might have faced challenges as a woman in the medieval man’s world, but she hardly had sleepless nights over her correct pronouns."
Apparently, it's all part of "a broader effort within the curriculum to provide historical and cultural context for LGBTQ+ identities. The lesson plan suggests discussing references to non-binary people in ancient Mesopotamia, the legally recognized hijra gender in South Asia, and the suggestion that Joan of Arc might be viewed through a non-binary lens."
But it's not sitting well with many teachers. One reportedly said that it's making a mockery of the entire profession, while others have reportedly claimed that focus on topics like this takes away from their time spent on traditional academic subjects, and books like these prevent them from teaching the classics.
"Joan of Arc" by John Everett Millais (1865). pic.twitter.com/kjfMDpbIkp
— Academia Aesthetics (@AcademiaAesthe1) November 19, 2022
Others have also spoken out against this garbage, proving that there is still a little common sense left across the pond. Robert Tombs, professor emeritus of French history at Cambridge University, is one of them.
"Joan of Arc fought as a woman and died as a woman. To call her something else is insulting to her and indirectly to all women who are brave enough to risk their lives for their beliefs—as if women are incapable of heroism," he told the Telegraph.
Carolyn Brown, a retired psychologist who now works for the Women's Rights Network, told the Telegraph:
This is yet another ridiculous example of attempting to rewrite history and erase strong, rebellious female characters from our past. It's insulting to suggest that non-conforming women are not women. Non-binary is a nonsense term - indeed the Supreme Court in the UK recently ruled against including it as an option on passports It's also another example of the junk science of queer theory being visited on children. It's unhelpful psychologically to children's development and is likely to cause confusion and anxiety.
And de Lauzun makes another great point:
It is very convenient for the apostles of non-binarism to appropriate Jeanne. Was she not burned as a witch by a male and reactionary Church?
But the reality of the facts does not stand up to the test of their fantasies. A woman, the gentle Jeanne was fully so, even if, from 1429, at the very beginning of her epic, she had her hair cut ‘in a bowl,’ according to the male fashion of the time, and chose to wear a mid-length dress, also of the male type. She grew up with her mother Isabelle, learning everything a young girl of her age should know, spinning wool and running a household.
She suffered from a destiny that Heaven had asked of her. Her young and tender heart made her shed tears when she saw one of her enemies wounded near her, or when she felt the full weight of the injustice of her judges. She did not consider for a second carrying an iron and preferred to go into battle carrying a banner bearing the names of Jesus and Mary.
The Church that condemned her to the stake was not the brutally patriarchal force feminists like to depict. While Bishop Cauchon wanted her dead, other priests assisted her, confessed her, brought her communion, and bowed to the grace and strength that emanated from the courageous girl of Lorraine.
Our culture is under attack by these activists who want to groom your children and grandchildren to be just like them. At PJ Media —and across all Townhall sites — we want to make sure the these stories see the light of day. The mainstream media certainly won't cover, and if they do, it won't be fair or reality-based.
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