Teachers who denigrate talented writers of the past for their gender or race are depressingly common; they don't even seem to realize what a bad influence it is to teach kids to look at the person's physical characteristics instead of their achievements.

The infantilization of culture is also key. I wrote an article a while back in which I talked about how the heroines of the past were often portrayed as selfless, stoic and brave, but the feminist heroines of today complain about this expectation to be a good person; it makes sense when you realize adults are averse to take responsibility or grow into any kind of new societal role. As such we see the shows and books that were aimed at the young get rehashed for an older and more cynical audience instead of content that adults would have appreciated years ago; Barbie and Snow White can't be left alone as some fun thing for kids but remade in the image of the now enlightened woke woman.