Dangerous Book for Boys

The title pretty much says it all. The Dangerous Book for Boys, a hit in Britain, is a trip back into times when play was simpler, maybe riskier, but probably no more dangerous in the long run:

Exuding the brisk breeziness of Boy Scout manuals and Boy’s Own annuals, “The Dangerous Book” is a childhood how-to guide that covers everything from paper airplanes to go-carts, skipping stones to skinning a rabbit.

Probably more fun, as well. Nothing like making your own invisible ink or a tree fort - though from what I remember of my kids growing up, such things are perhaps less unusual than some concerned adults might think. As for excluding girls with the title, here's what Conn Iggulden, co-author with his brother Hal, has to say:

“It’s not exactly that we are excluding girls, but we wanted to celebrate boys, because nobody has been doing it for a long while,” he said.“I think we’ve come through the period when we said boys and girls were exactly the same, because they’re not. Boys and girls have different interests, different ways of learning, and there’s no real problem in writing a book that plays to that, and says, let’s celebrate it. Let’s go for a book that will appeal to boys.”

Supposedly Penguin is already planning The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls. Instead of water bombs, tree forts, and go-carts, the fare will be elderflower cordial and cat's cradle. Sounds like getting short-changed to me.

Pakistan Bans Play on Burkas

The government of Pakistan has banned a play put on by the Ajoka Theatre group because it makes "unacceptable fun" of Pakistani culture, according to a BBC report. Burkas are the head coverings often worn by women under some strict interpretations of Islam. Here's something from the government, quoted by the story:

"The veil has long been part of local culture and nobody is allowed to make fun of these values," Minister for Culture Ghazi Gulab Jamal said.

The play is satire, but obviously the government wanted it literally under wraps, and not out and about them. According to Reuters, not everyone in the government agrees with the action:

Mehnaz Rafi, a lawmaker for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League from Lahore,
opposed the government giving in to the Islamists.

"A few people cannot
dictate affairs of the state. Every person has the right to lead his life his
own way. A few people cannot snatch freedom from society," Rafi said.

The Reuters account also mentions that some female Islamic students in burkas kidnapped three women from a brothel and would only release them after they repented their ways in front of the media, apparently in an attempt to give a black eye to a red eye district. Other students have put pressure on music and video stores.

Clearly philosophies can be dangerous things when people focus on the externals and not the actual ideas behind them, reminding me that words can be dangerous, but not as dangerous as not allowing them.