"In the fairy tale world of educational publishing, there are no heroines. No blizzards, rats or owls, either. That's because these words -- along with over 500 others -- have been banned under the mandatory bias guidelines that must be followed by publishers of children's textbooks and tests. According to these guidelines, heroines are sexist, blizzards demonstrate regional prejudice, rats are too scary and owls are culturally insensitive because they're associated with death in some cultures.”
Ravitch, Diane.
