Disney recently announced that they will be remodeling the "Pirates of the Caribbean ride." In doing this, they will be removing the "wench auction" scene of the ride and replacing it with a more politically correct set. The original wench auction stage depicted women standing in a line with ropes tied around their wrists, waiting to get “auctioned” off and sold as a bride. A sign above them reads “take a wench for a bride” as an auctioneer sells them off. The new design plan is to have a woman hosting an auction for the townspeople to sell their goods.
While I understand the concern of the "wench auction" on display at a family attraction, I disagree with the move to rid of it. At six years old, I rode "Pirates of the Caribbean" with my family, and upon exiting the attraction, I asked my mother what was happening to the women in the auction. As I can recall, she explained to me a part of history, that, while disturbing, was very real in the grand scheme of things. Women were sold as brides. It’s depressing, awful and terrifying, but it happened. Women were subordinate to men and seen as property.
This is a fact of history; to say that instead, they held roles such as auctioneers is a fallacy.
Debates over the removal of particular books from school curriculums is a hot topic right now. This is due to the fact that most of the material being removed from the schools contains important information about history. Kids are now more than ever being guarded from the harsh reality of history – a lot of it was unjust and immoral. Millions of people in history were mistreated and lived miserable lives due to historical events. The selling of brides is one of them. We cannot erase history and thus should not try to hide facts of history from future generations simply because it can be construed as politically incorrect.
This takes me to my next point: The ride’s scene of bridal auction is politically incorrect because it was politically incorrect. It’s not right to sell women off as property, just as it’s corrupt to shoot other people – which is basically the main focus of the ride, right? The ride tells the tale of pirates, and during those times, people shot one another, drank themselves silly, and sold brides. If we’re going to get rid of this piece of the ride, perhaps we should eradicate the whole ride in general, as it isn’t politically correct to do really anything portrayed in the ride.
Trafficking women, or selling women for sex or marriage, is still a huge problem today. In fact, 14 million girls under the age of 18 will be married this year, according to UNFPA. The details of this phenomenon and the skyrocketing number of individuals it affects is seldom explained in textbooks. Though movies like “Taken” and books such as “Half the Sky” have been developing some attention to the problem, it is otherwise largely muffled. In order to put an end to these horrific events, conversations need to be had about the issue of women trafficking. If it takes a Disney ride to bring it up, then by all means it should not be removed.
It happened, it’s happening, and it needs to be ended, not hushed.
What is next? Removing the guns from the pirates and having them throw confetti at each other because the basic history behind pirates is too politically incorrect for audiences? If you are unwilling to explain to your children the truth behind the auction scene, maybe you should second-guess why you are bringing your child to a ride depicting violence. Guarding your children, or yourself, from the reality of what was and what still is does not do anything but create a naïve generation.
