Campaigner sparks controversy after blasting picture book
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A British domestic violence campaigner has called out Judith Kerr’s 1968 picture book, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Tiger Who Came to Tea</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, as a reinforcement of problematic ideas.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rachel Adamson, the co-director of charity Zero Tolerance, which aims to end men’s violence against women, has claimed the book is an “old fashioned” depiction of women.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We know that gender stereotypes are harmful and they reinforce gender inequality, and that gender inequality is the cause of violence against women and girls,” she told </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">BBC Radio Scotland</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kerr’s picture book tells the story of a tiger who arrives on a family’s doorstep and, once invited in for tea, proceeds to consume all of their food and drinks.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adamson criticised the “stereotypical” ending to the book, where the dad comes home from work and saves the day by taking his family to a cafe.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The campaigner also questioned why the tiger was not female or gender neutral.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We need to recognise these aren’t just stories… it is reflective of a society that we need to think more closely about,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adamson described Kerr as a “wonderful author”, but was aware that her comments would “make a lot of people unhappy”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite her strong views about the book, Adamson has stressed that she doesn’t want it banned.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, she believes it could be used to “raise a conversation” in nurseries.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking to </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Daily Telegraph</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Conservatives spokesperson for children and young people, described Adamson’s language as “completely unhelpful”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“While attitudes change over time, parents will be left bemused at some of these claims by Zero Tolerance,” Gallacher </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9920825/Tiger-Came-Tea-lead-rape-harassment-campaigner-claims.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This sort of language is completely unhelpful as we try to educate children about much-loved publications from days gone by.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There are far better ways for this publicly funded group to go about changing attitudes, rather than simply calling for these books to be banned from nurseries.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kerr, who had fled Nazi Germany when she was just 13, had previously denied claims there was a darker meaning to the story.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The idea came to her while she was a stay-at-home mother of her two small children.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It got really very boring,” she later recalled. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’d go for a walk and have tea, and that was it really. And we wished someone would come. So I thought, why not have a tiger come?”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kerr continued to write and illustrate books from 1968 until she passed away in May of 2019.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Instagram, Rachel Adamson</span></em></p>
