Michigan busybody thinks "The Diary Of Anne Frank Is Smut

[Tator Tot Tubby]

I'm sure her daughter is actually far more familiar with sexuality than her mother realizes. I have a feeling her daughter was never uncomfortable reading it and that her mother found out about the apparently inappropriate content on her own.

Am I the only one who doesn't think we should have access to the entire book? It is a young girl's diary...

[idonthaveajname]

I'm more offended that Anne and Margot Frank died of typhus at the hands of maniacs who industrialized genocide than Gail Horaleck will ever be that her 7th grader read about vaginas.

THANK. YOU.

Sweet Moses on a bicycle, people need more to do to occupy their lives if this shit is what they complain about.

[Loveday]

I'm sure her daughter is actually far more familiar with sexuality than her mother realizes. I have a feeling her daughter was never uncomfortable reading it and that her mother found out about the apparently inappropriate content on her own.

Am I the only one who doesn't think we should have access to the entire book? It is a young girl's diary...

No, you're not the only one. Well, I'm sort of on the fence about it, really. I can understand why her father did what he did to the diary before publishing it--it was his own daughter, after all, and what father wants his young daughter's innermost thoughts about sex and her body published for the world to see? And the things he edited out really don't change the message of the diary at all.

But now that Otto Frank is gone, as well as everyone else who is mentioned in the diary (I think. Didn't Miep Gies pass away not long ago?), I can see the value in restoring the edited bits.

I've just had a look at my bookshelves, and discovered that I do have an unedited copy of the diary. I have no memory of buying it, and I know I haven't read it yet. It goes on my nightstand immediately.

[RachelB]

Some people have banned it for being "a real downer"??

Well, no shit! It's not the book that's the downer. It's the reason that Anne and her family had to be in hiding, the knowledge that the diary's abrupt ending came about because the family was found by the Nazis, and the fact that only 1 out of the 8 survived. It's the fact that millions of other were also murdered, and in many cases, we don't have the same degree of insight into what they were like when they were alive. Compared to much of the other material on the Holocaust, this isn't graphic in its horror. What makes it compelling is that it's so personal. Anne had moods and ups and downs and was starting to grow into a woman. It's easy to feel a connection - and it is that connection which makes the knowledge of her death feel particularly tragic. She had started the process of becoming a woman - but wouldn't finish it, since she died before she turned 16.

You know what's a real downer? Seeing piles of shoes of victims, seeing newsreels of skeletal corpses all on top of each other, and seeing a massive mound of ashes at Majdanek. Along with the horror, it can ultimately be somewhat dehumanizing to the victims. Anne put a face to the victims.

When I was 14, I went to Europe with my uncle. (He'd arranged to go with my grandmother, and she died after he bought her plane ticket, which he transferred to me.) When I learned we were going to Amsterdam, I asked to go the Anne Frank House, because I'd read and loved her diary. He wouldn't go in when we arrived: "Why would I want to do something that would just depress me?" (Oh, I don't know-- maybe because it's history, and she documented it, whether you acknowledge it or not? And also, having a range of emotions is part of being human?) So he stood outside getting sunburned, while I took a leisurely reverent tour.

Anne was a person, with hopes and desires, keen observation skills and comic timing. And she deserves remembering.

[keen23]

Anne Frank was writing about her authentic experience as a teenager. Sure, it was a private diary that wasn't meant to be read by so many people, but the insight it provides is incredibly valuable. It makes a horrible period in human history much more "human." Teenagers can identify with Anne and her real experiences much more than they can just reading facts in a history book.

Know what I read when I was 12? Judy Blume's Wifey. Because I liked Judy Blume, and I had read everything else of hers that I could get my hands on. And, my Mom owned Wifey. So I "borrowed" it. Boy, was that an education that I wasn't expecting. A true eye-opener that I didn't 100% understand at first reading. I got so much more out of Wifey when I read it at age 16.

[Lady]

Otto Frank also edited out the more viscous attacks of Fritz Pfeffer. His fiancee survived the war and married him posthumously in 1950, since the laws in Germany in 1937 prevented their marriage when they had wanted to get married.

I agree that we shouldn't have had the entire diary while it could hurt anyone living. Because the key players are now dead, it can not hurt anyone.

[Lady]

There is a part of Anne Frank's story that always confused me. We don't know Anne Frank's tattoo number, yet the Nazis issues a death certificate and everything. How do we know which one is hers if we don't know her number? I'm betting the Nazis didn't suddenly decide to start called her Anne Frank instead of #########.

[Hane]

I bought The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition, which was prepared by the Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation, at the Anne Frank House when I visited Amsterdam in 2002. The thing that hit me the hardest there? Seeing the magazine photos of movie stars that Anne had pasted to the wall above her bed. My own daughter, also named Anne, had done exactly the same thing when she was that age.

Lord spare us--and especially the teaching profession--from rich, politically connected mommies with too much time on their hands.

A few years ago, one of these extra-special mommies got her panties in a bunch over Katherine Patterson's book The Great Gilly Hopkins, which is about a foster child overcoming her sad, emotionally neglected past with the help of her foster mother and teacher. Gilly is an angry child, and the book contains mild (in my opinion) cussing, along with some racist and otherwise disrespectful language. Read here for examples of the lawks-a-mercy pearl-clutching that transpired.

Around this time, my sister, a fifth-grade teacher, read the book to her class and shared some heartfelt and stimulating discussion with them. By coincidence, soon thereafter, Mrs. Patterson came to our town for a book discussion, and I asked her how she felt about her books being taught by teachers like my sister in the face of controversy. Mrs. Patterson's eyes actually welled up as she expressed thanks to these teachers for daring to discuss the hard realities of life with the children they cared for. She said that it was better for children to read about such topics as the death of a friend (in A Bridge to Terabithia) with loving adults whom they can ask questions than to have to face such tragedies head-on without any emotional preparation.

[jenny_islander]

Porn.

PORN.

Yes, that's why Anne Frank spent a big chunk of her life hiding from the people who ultimately murdered her. Because she just wanted to sit around writing PORN. Her private diary was totally TOTALLY intended for public sale and titillation.

You know what I want for witless nonsense like this? I want to find somebody who can do a good imitation of Yakko Warner, and I want him to sing "Va-gi-na, va-gi-na, va-gi-na, va-gi-na, va-gi-na, va-gi-na, va-gi-naaaaa!" to the tune of "Nations of the World" and put it on Youtube so I can link to it.

Because a woman, or a soon-to-be woman, or somebody writing medical advice to women or soon-to-be women, cannot use correct words for body parts or it will be PORN.

:wtf:

[Hane]

OT: I'm reminded of a post on the old Yuku site in which a Christian bride-to-be was at a gown fitting and the seamstress asked her to adjust her boobs. The blushing flower cried out, "But that's MASTURBATION!"

[jenny_islander]

OT: I'm reminded of a post on the old Yuku site in which a Christian bride-to-be was at a gown fitting and the seamstress asked her to adjust her boobs. The blushing flower cried out, "But that's MASTURBATION!"

And people wonder why breastfeeding rates are so low in this country!

[canela]

Am I the only one who doesn't think we should have access to the entire book? It is a young girl's diary...

I understand your point. Anne was a young girl who was initially writing to her diary the way she would have spoken to a confidant/best friend. I think the difference as that Anne was aware that her diary might eventually become something else. She took the request for the Dutch to chronicle their wartime experiences very seriously. She had begun to edit her writings herself. Although we can't know exactly what she would have wanted us to read, I believe she thought her writing would eventually be read. Anne might have wanted us to read some of those edited parts to show that even during the war, life and normal development continued. Maybe she would have wanted to include the "objectionable" references to genitalia to provide a resource for girls who had questions. Or maybe I've just rationalized it that way for myself.

Reading this article brought back the frustration I felt when one of the US networks was first going to broadcast Schindler's List uncensored. There was a big hullabaloo about OMG, nudity and the f word. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

[Lady]

I understand your point. Anne was a young girl who was initially writing to her diary the way she would have spoken to a confidant/best friend. I think the difference as that Anne was aware that her diary might eventually become something else. She took the request for the Dutch to chronicle their wartime experiences very seriously. She had begun to edit her writings herself. Although we can't know exactly what she would have wanted us to read, I believe she thought her writing would eventually be read. Anne might have wanted us to read some of those edited parts to show that even during the war, life and normal development continued. Maybe she would have wanted to include the "objectionable" references to genitalia to provide a resource for girls who had questions. Or maybe I've just rationalized it that way for myself.

Reading this article brought back the frustration I felt when one of the US networks was first going to broadcast Schindler's List uncensored. There was a big hullabaloo about OMG, nudity and the f word. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

My Christian school had the same issue with Schindler's List! There was nudity and naughty language. I always thought that was the stupidest reason not to watch the movie.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I understand your point. Anne was a young girl who was initially writing to her diary the way she would have spoken to a confidant/best friend. I think the difference as that Anne was aware that her diary might eventually become something else. She took the request for the Dutch to chronicle their wartime experiences very seriously. She had begun to edit her writings herself. Although we can't know exactly what she would have wanted us to read, I believe she thought her writing would eventually be read. Anne might have wanted us to read some of those edited parts to show that even during the war, life and normal development continued. Maybe she would have wanted to include the "objectionable" references to genitalia to provide a resource for girls who had questions. Or maybe I've just rationalized it that way for myself.

Reading this article brought back the frustration I felt when one of the US networks was first going to broadcast Schindler's List uncensored. There was a big hullabaloo about OMG, nudity and the f word. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

I haven't seen "Schindler's List" is ages, and I barely remember those scenes. But the scene with the little girl in the red coat absolutely gutted me.

On-topic: I'm going to leave this right here. It's a still from a video entitled "Imagine a World Without Hate."

[Loveday]

On-topic: I'm going to leave this right here. It's a still from a video entitled "Imagine a World Without Hate."

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[GolightlyGrrl]

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Here is the video. You might want so tissues nearby.

http://www.adl.org/imagine/

[Loveday]

Here is the video. You might want so tissues nearby.

http://www.adl.org/imagine/

Thanks for the link. You were right, I needed Kleenex. :cry:

[Lady]

I haven't seen "Schindler's List" is ages, and I barely remember those scenes. But the scene with the little girl in the red coat absolutely gutted me.

They are. It may make you feel better to know while in the movie she died, in reality she did survive. If you remember the girl with the round glasses, they were cousins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Ligocka

Though, others have claimed they are her or their family member was her.

http://www.geni.com/projects/SCHINDLER- ... story/5803

Also, I know I posted upthread about Anne's tattoo number and death certificate. I couldn't find anything about her online, but I did find Peter Van Pels' number. It was on an intake form for Mauthausen.

http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetai ... rettyPhoto

[Hane]

Thanks for the link. You were right, I needed Kleenex. :cry:

Me, too. To think that these people could have lived to contribute so much more...

[gardenvarietycitizen]

She talks about menstruation too, and so, somehow, via some marketing by a Japanese sanitary pad company... "Anne's Day" became slang in Japanese for "that time of the month," I kid you not. It is now "dowdy" to say that, but it's handy euphemism I guess (certainly no one in the US ever has any idea!)

The book itself was well loved for good reasons from early on (and surely that's why someone wanted to use it for marketing). Just sayin', though, it's kinda weird seeing that article...

[Guest]

Follow up: a review board decided unanimously to keep this edition of Anne Frank in the curriculum. Censorship failed :dance:

http://northville.patch.com/articles/de ... le-schools

[Loveday]

Follow up: a review board decided unanimously to keep this edition of Anne Frank in the curriculum. Censorship failed :dance:

http://northville.patch.com/articles/de ... le-schools

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'm so glad they made this decision that I actually teared up a little.

[Anny Nym]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'm so glad they made this decision that I actually teared up a little.

Indeed!

By the way, I live just an around-one-hour drive away from Mauthausen. In Middle school, we did a field study trip there (most austrian school classes in 4th grade Middle school do that out of obvious reasons). I remember it as one of the most character building issues we did in school.

I bought the Diary of Anne Frank just shortly after, as many of my friends did. We also watched "Schindlers List" and had part of Anne Franks´diary in our history books and as part of projects, also about the impact of the Holocaust in our region and hometowns - for example the "Mauthausen inmates death march through St.Pölten" .

Complaining about such an utter important piece of history like the Diary of Anne Frank "because of a graphic passage describing the female body." is some of the dumest shit I ever heard in my life regarding the coming to terms with the Holocaust.

And believe me, I have heard some ugly weird shit regarding this issue in my life so far!

[oil]

This is the part was censored that made the daughter traumatize:

‘There are little folds of skin all over the place, you can hardly find it,’ the passage reads. ‘The little hole underneath is so terribly small that I simply can’t imagine how a man can get in there, let alone how a whole baby can get out!’

'Until I was eleven or twelve, I didn’t realize there was a second set of labia on the inside, since you couldn’t see them. What’s even funnier is that I thought urine came out of the clitoris…When you’re standing up, all you see from the front is hair. Between your legs there are two soft, cushiony things, also covered with hair, which press together when you’re standing, so you can’t see what’s inside. They separate when you sit down and they’re very red and quite fleshy on the inside. In the upper part, between the outer labia, there’s a fold of skin that, on second thought, looks like a kind of blister. That’s the clitoris.'

' it mentions Eva's menstruation. Oh, I long to get my period --then I'll really be grown up.'

It make my heart break, Anna Frank was so normal like all girls in her body exploration. Even in her hiding, she was just a girl like all .

http://kienforcefidele.files.wordpress. ... -frank.pdf

This is the quotes about her feelings of her parents marriage, so I see why Otto would want to hide it.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/10/world ... all&src=pm

[oil]

May be the writing about her sex love desire for Peter and the kissing her girl friend and asking to touch her breasts and love the nude female body to want to have a girlfriend? (Then she later on change her mind and say she ony want boyfriend, so that should make homophobic feel better.) And saying being married doesnt matter to have physical sex? She says she learned hymen and she cant go her index finger into vagina. I know some mothers who dont want their young kids reading that. Then the parent will get questioning from the kids and dont feel comfortable to talk about that things. Even not just physical thing, but the a lot of desire talk about longing for Peter.

I can understand a young girl or boy feeling aroused by that parts of the diary. I remember I felt like that when I read it when I was may be 13?? But it go away fast when the next paragraph telling about how she afraid to know about the bombings of the countrys in the war and the fear of gestapo finding them.