[bksvol-discuss] Re: Adult Content
- From: Kelly Pierce <kellytalk@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2012 23:31:37 -0600
The library and bookstore test sounds reasonable until it is realized
that communities in different parts of America find certain material
unacceptable where other communities do not. Someone under 18 can
read on premises or purchase nearly all of the books the Bookshare
unit of Benetech says are only suitable to adults at a library or
independent or women’s bookstore in San Francisco, new York’s
Greenwich village or on the north side of Chicago, where I live. This
is likely not the situation in other places in the country not as
liberal, permissive, tolerant and accepting.
In reviewing some of the items Bookshare has slapped with the adult
content label, it seems clear that the organization has adopted some
of the attitudes of Todd Akin of Missouri, Richard Mourdock of
Indiana, and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Their beliefs and views about
women were completely repudiated by voters on November 6. Bookshare
has labeled the books “My Body, My Self for Boys” and “My Body, My
Self for Girls” as for adults only. Information about the books is
below. The publisher, Harper Collins, describes the books are for
those age 10 and above. Harper Collins is a unit of media giant News
Corporation, which owns such properties as the New York Post and the
Fox News Channel. A company with a conservative pedigree creates a
book about puberty and sexuality for teens that Benetech through
Bookshare prevents teens from accessing.
Also stuck with the adult label is the book “Our Bodies, Ourselves,”
an iconic touchstone of the 1970s women’s liberation movement. The
work represents the first major effort of women to share information
about women’s health beyond the range of experts and major social
institutions. The book has sold millions of copies and has been
published in more than 30 languages. I know of a number of places
where an adolescent girl could buy this book without any hassle or
questions. Some believe, like the three losing politicians and
Bookshare, that women and girls along with young males should not have
this kind of information. An HIV infection or a pregnancy through a
sexual assault, whether or not it meets Paul Ryan’s idea of
“forcible,” is “god’s will.” This notion is reprehensible and
Bookshare seems to be joining hands with those who advocate this
viewpoint.
Benetech claims it stands for the human rights of people all
throughout the world. Yet, it seeks to control information to girls
with disabilities about their bodies that is easily available to girls
without disabilities where I live. Supporting human rights includes
elevating the status of women and girls so that they have the
knowledge to make informed decisions about their bodies. In my state,
a teenage girl can become pregnant and have an abortion without
telling her parents or getting their permission. Yet Benetech, through
Bookshare says information about contraception and abortion found in
these books is “adult” material and off limits to girls. Maybe it’s
time Bookshare staff recognize human rights includes the freedom to
read about topics some would rather not surface.
If Bookshare’s decision on these and similar books labeled as “adult”
but would never be found in an adult bookstore is an imposition that a
funder stipulated to Benetech to receive funds, that funder should be
identified and what exactly they stipulated. I want to know if this
unnamed funder states that girls with disabilities should not know
about contraception or that teens of both sexes should not learn about
puberty even though the publisher, a major international corporation,
has clearly stated it is age appropriate.
Kelly
My Body, My Self for Boys
Lynda Madaras
The Madaras growing-up guides are acknowledged by parents, educators,
librarians, and doctors for their unique, nonthreatening style,
excellent organization, and thorough coverage of both the physical and
emotional issues surrounding puberty and adolescence. And kids love
them too! As one fan wrote, "Dear Lynda, I can't believe that you, a
mom, knew all this stuff!" My Body, My Self for Boys is filled with
activities, checklists, illustrations, and plenty of room for journal
jottings, plus lots of personal stories in which boys share their
concerns and experiences about growing up. For ages 10 and up.
My Body, My Self for Girls
Area Madaras
and Lynda Madaras
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Judy Norsigian
and Boston Women's Health Book Collective
Our Bodies, Ourselves is the resource that women of all ages turn to
for information about their bodies, sexuality, and reproductive
health.
What's happening to my body? Is this normal? This fact-filled journal
and activity book makes it fun for girls to find answers to their many
questions about the physical and emotional changes that accompany
puberty.
On 11/10/12, Lisa Gorden-Cushman <crysania@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> When I was a kid, I would keep reading a book if there were sexual content,
> and laugh a little at the adults who didn't know what I was reading.
> Perhaps it would be good to have a little look out for parents.
>
>
>
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
> Bailey
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2012 11:28 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Adult Content
>
> I don't see the relevance either. I have never either read or not read any
> book because it either did or did not contain sexual content. Again, if you
> don't like the book, whether it is because of the presence of certain words
> or descriptions of virtually anything or for any other reason, you can just
> stop reading it. It is completely beyond reason to expect other people to
> read your mind and to pick and choose and label books for you so that you
> will never get one that you do not like,. That goes for teens and kids too.
> If a child picks up a book that contains something that the child does not
> like or finds objectionable then the child will most likely get bored and
> just stop reading it. The whole idea that adults need to decide for
> children
> what they can and cannot read is offensive to me.
> On 11/10/2012 1:09 PM, Sandi Ryan wrote:
> I have read BARD books since I was ten, and have never once picked a book
> simply because it did or did not have the symbols indicating "Explicit
> descriptions of sex, strong language, or violence." I suspect some people
> use those designations as a positive reason for choosing certain books, but
> I have always believed that if I chose only those books without such
> designations, I'd miss out on an awful lot of real life.
>
> Your choice is your own, but I see no reason for Bookshare (or the BARD,
> for
> that matter) to judge the contents of books. It might be helpful for kids
> and teens, but in those cases, if the parents are concerned, they should
> pick what books their kids can read.
>
> Sandi
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ali Al-hajamy <mailto:aalhajamy@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2012 12:02 PM
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Adult Content
>
> In addition, there is no way that we can relabel all 170000 books currently
> in the collection to reflect what kind of language they contain or if there
> is violence and sex. I suppose, if you really, really cared, you could
> create a program that counts every instance of swear words, and would
> insert
> some kind of label such as "strong language" into the book's metadata, say
> the short or long description, based on the number of times it found
> "obscene" words in the text, but why do that? If our experience is to
> mirror
> that of the able-eyed user at a bookstore or library, adding such labels
> would be counterproductive to that goal, since the sighted don't have giant
> stickers on their books that say that a book has swearing and sex. And such
> a program would only work for strong language, since different writers use
> different words to describe violent and sexual situations. Your best bet if
> you're sensative and want your books to be free of that kind of thing is to
> read reviews and excerpts rather than make everyone else do the work for
> you.
>
> On 10-Nov-12 12:51, Roger Loran Bailey wrote:
> I will say this again. There is no way possible to know that you will not
> like a book until you read it. You might get an idea by reading reviews and
> listening to people discuss books, but you will not actually know until you
> try it. You should also not expect other people to filter your books for
> you. Their opinions of what you will or will not like may not be the same
> as
> your own opinions. For that reason I would suggest that books just be
> submitted in the same manner as any other book no matter what kind of
> language they might contain. If a proofreader turns out to not like it then
> that proofreader can just release it.
> On 11/9/2012 8:03 PM, Cindy Rosenthal wrote:
> Hmmm. But what about our sensitive members who don't like to read books
> with profanity or explicit sex; should we, raher than label them AC, put
> some kind of warning somewhere? Does what we put in the Comments section
> get attached to the book fle? I'munder the impression that those comments
> are only for the book share administrators, e.g. like errors in
> punctuation
> and spelling are as they are in the print book.
>
> I think I have in the past put such "warnings" in the synopsis or somewhere
> but told it didn't belong there.
> Cindy
> On Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 2:53 PM, Madeleine Linares <Madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I thought it was about time for a refresher course in what we mean by Adult
> Content (also known as "AC"). There has been some confusion (off-list) and
> I've noticed it incorrectly marked in the Approval Queue.
>
> Here is a note from our Collection Development Manager on our definition:
>
> "Our policy, developed in conjunction with our OSEP funders, is that there
> are certain kinds of content -- explicit depictions of sexual acts with no
> redeeming social value, as well as extreme and gratuitous violence -- will
> require a minor to get an adult guardian's permission to access. As a
> "content-neutral" collection, we will never exclude a title for any
> potentially controversial or distasteful content, but we will tag some
> content for adult (or minors with a guardian's permission) use only. The
> idea is that parents can control the access their kids have to content
> deemed potentially inappropriate -- but they don't have the right to
> control
> or limit access to anybody else's kids.
>
> The "walking into a bookstore or library" test continues to be a good one.
> Could a non-print-disabled kid walk into a good bookstore or public library
> and get a copy of this book without an adult being involved? If the answer
> is yes, a print-disabled kid should be able to do the same on Bookshare.
> We
> are not interested in placing additional barriers to access for our members
> that their peers do not experience. This means we do have stuff available
> to members under 18 that has sex, and swearing, and violence, and substance
> abuse in it, and that is okay and in keeping with the generally recognized
> standards of "freedom to read" policy in this country.
>
> We don't have a perfect implementation of this policy yet -- I see evidence
> that we were a little more strait-laced in the early days (and fix it when
> I
> come across it), and our automated filtering from publisher feeds still
> needs some fine-tuning. When I'm trying to navigate something particular
> "gray area-y" like the steamier of the romances coming in, I ask myself
> about the intent -- is the action (even if hot and heavy) designed to move
> the characters towards relationship, or is the plot driven only by the need
> to get body parts intermingling again? It's the latter that's clearly AC,
> while the former continues to be ambiguous. Author intent is, alas, pretty
> gray-area-y and subjective itself, but I think it can help separate the
> sheep from the goats."
>
> Adult content is confusing and clearly not black and white. Many romances
> (such as a lot of the Harlequin ones), though certainly racy, should not be
> labeled as AC. A 16-year-old could walk into a book store and buy ones of
> those books just as easily as a 38-year old, although his or her parents
> might not approve and might consider the content inappropriate. Anyway,
> just
> thought it couldn't hurt to remind everyone!
>
> Feel free to contact me with questions, as always.
>
> Best,
>
> Madeleine Linares
> Volunteer Coordinator
> Bookshare, a Benetech Initiative
> 650-644-3459
> madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Join us in celebrating our 10
> <http://blog.bookshare.org/2012/03/11/join-bookshares-worldwide-10th-anniver
> sary-celebration/> th Anniversary!
>
> Title:
> Bookshare logo: Bringing Reading to Life for
> 10 Years
>
>
>
>
>
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