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A comment on If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling. Parent comment

Re:If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling by jasonhansel on Friday December 31, 2021 @08:00PM (#29754304)
This is, in fact, quite relevant. The poem "If" is, largely, an endorsement of traditional norms of masculinity, and the same sort of far-right conservatism is the source of the racist prejudices in The White Man's Burden--and in his other famous work, The Jungle Book.

In fact, the connection between the poem "If" and colonialism is even more direct:

> To take one example, Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If…’ (1895), which acts as a guide to manhood for his son, takes inspiration from colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, presenting him as the ideal man.

Source: https://projects.history.qmul.ac.uk/thehistorian/2017/05/12/...

Edit: the point is, it is very unsurprising that the author of The White Man's Burden would also have written this particular poem.

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Re:If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling by Veen on Friday December 31, 2021 @08:20PM (#29754443)
> The poem "If" is, largely, an endorsement of traditional norms of masculinity

Yes, and all the better for it.

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Re:If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling by slibhb on Friday December 31, 2021 @08:34PM (#29754543)
The Jungle Book is the best children's book ever written. I'd like to see a study of adult life outcomes based on whether their parents read them The Jungle Book. I think it would be revealing.
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Re:If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling by rntksi on Friday December 31, 2021 @08:23PM (#29754459)
Thank you. I think this idea that there's a perfect ideal to strive for is present in all culture. From someone educated in "Western" values but living with "Eastern" tradition (simplifying a lot here), I've (personally) always read Kipling as very pretentious, and a relic of an older time. However seeing how often it comes up in forums and how people always laud it when it does, I think it strikes a chord with a certain mindset (that flies past my head unfortunately), and by that it will be a poem that continues to be a guiding light. My belief is that people however should understand the context of something, even more so if it is a text that they treasure.
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