“The above screenshot comes from an article of The Guardian, which was linked on Twitter. If you have anything to say about trigger warnings, now is your chance. But you might want to read the article first.”

Wow. This is one hell of a Wicked Wednesday prompt. Where, oh where do I start?

Firstly, by saying that I don’t believe in the censorship of books. Period.

Secondly, that I’m well aware that this liberal view of mine comes at a price. There’s no question that there are grotesque things out there in written form, things that I have no interest in reading. Ever. But I know that for freedom of expression to be truly ‘free’, then we must allow writing on all subjects, whether or not they offend us. When we start drawing lines, defining what is and isn’t okay from a personal viewpoint – and, ultimately, all censorship comes down to an individual (or individuals’) own set of judgements and beliefs – we risk getting ourselves into serious trouble: persecution, marginalisation, oppression.

The beauty of freewill is that we get to choose what we read. And what we don’t. You only have to look at the various books that have been banned over the years to see just what a blunt instrument censorship is. It doesn’t understand fine detail, it doesn’t make subtle distinctions. It is wrecking ball that smashes its direct target but also tends to take out everything else within a hundred-mile literary radius.

So, then. Trigger warnings. We’ve all seen them. In fact, it’s actually becoming increasingly difficult to purchase a book without being hit in the face with one. They run the gamut.

From the very simple:

To the incredibly detailed (A.K.A. ‘the entire book in a paragraph’):

To the vaguely humorous:

But if we accept that we’re not going to censor the written word, that we’re going to allow the publication of books of all kinds, regardless of whether we personally abhor or champion the content, shouldn’t we as readers expect to be explicitly warned about potentially distressing content (in the manner of the above) lest we encounter something we’re not prepared to deal with?

Well, no, actually.

Because giving a reader a pre-emptive Get Out of Feeling Free card has the ability to be more harmful than exposing them to potentially controversial content.

If we are only ever advised to read books that detail the safe and happy and benign, are warned away from texts that have the ability to shock, challenge and make us question our beliefs, our conduct – our morality – then are we not devaluing our humanity? Our ability to feel? Our ability to make our own informed choices?

The idea that reading should spare us tough or difficult emotions, that we should live in a perfect bubble where we pretend nothing bad ever happens, frankly, scares the living daylights out of me because it suggests that we could very easily become a society that doesn’t acknowledge or deal with anything difficult. An apathetic human race.

Just think about what that would look like for a second.

I’m personally guilty of using trigger warnings in my own work. Have employed them in the past to alert readers to content that I think they might not be expecting – pseudo non-consent in my short story Frostbite, for example. In writing this post, I’m actually starting to feel a little unsure as to whether I should have done so. My intention was to ‘protect’ readers who may have stumbled across my blog (and thought they were going to get something light and fluffy and ‘floral’) from an unwanted textual encounter. But in using trigger warnings, have I not made assumptions about their expectations? Censored their experience of my writing? Pushed them away and told them that I don’t believe that they’re capable of making a decision about a story’s content for themselves having read the first few lines?

The irony is that I pay little attention to trigger warnings when I’m deciding what I, personally, do and don’t want to read because I’m not prepared to rely on another person’s judgement of a text. I am my own barometer and I’m far, far more concerned with writing quality, an engaging story and an author’s ability to engage my head and my heart. My emotions.

It’s our reactions to books to books that count.

Hate.
Compassion
Distress.
Peace.
Anger.
Love.

These are normal human feelings. And we shouldn’t be warned away from them.

The post Wicked Wednesday: Pulling the trigger appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.

Amazon in the Book Banning Business
Source: Selena Kitt, The Self Publishing Revolution

Over the past month or so, a number of authors and readers I’m in contact with via various online book community groups have noticed that Amazon has begun to censor erotica texts. Yes, increasingly, the online retail giant is deciding which saucy books we can and can’t read.

Whilst Amazon’s Direct Publishing service is booming (everyone wants to be the new E.L. James) a growing number of erotica authors are finding that their books are being removed from the sale for violating ‘content guidelines’.

‘Well,’ I hear you say. ‘Stick to the guidelines and there won’t be a problem.’

If only it were that simple. Per the Amazon website:

Pornography

We don’t accept pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts.

 

Offensive Content

What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect.

Wow. That’s really clear. You know how to define ‘pornography’ do you, Amazon? Know it when you see it, yes? And as far as ‘offensive content’ goes, I’m 100% certain our ‘expectations’ aren’t always going to match.

The above article by erotica author Selena Kitt gives an excellent overview of exactly what’s been going on, as does this thread, posted a day or so ago by author P.J. Fox whose work has just been ‘banned’. The latter has been trying to work out exactly why they’ve been kicked off the sales list so they can address the issue, only Amazon won’t specify what the problem is. Helpful.

It will be interesting to see how many erotica authors vote with their feet as a result of all this censorship hoo-ha. I’ve seen a fair few who have already stated their intent to move their titles over to Smashwords, which is generally seen to be far more author-friendly and has content guidelines that actually look like they were written by a lawyer.

Note to self: review more books published exclusively on Smashwords.

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Musical Heading to Off-Broadway
Source: Time

I soooo want to go and see this, primarily because I think the song titles are to die for. I’m not normally a fan of musicals (The Rocky Horror Picture Show being the notable exception) but who could pass up a production that features numbers such as ‘They Get Nasty, ‘I Don’t Make Love, I “F#*!”’ and ‘There’s a Hole Inside of Me’.

Please tell me there’s going to be an album?

Aristotle sex manual banned for 200 years to be auctioned
Source: The Telegraph

If you adore antique books (as I do) you may be interested in the forthcoming auction of this rare sex manual, which was first published in the 1600s.

Apparently banned until 1961 in Great Britain (sources differ on that point), it’s believed that the Compleat Master-Piece (incorrectly attributed to Aristotle) was used to provide guidance to ‘amateur midwives’ and ‘young married couples’.

Per the lot information on the Lyon & Turnbull website:

‘The work was certainly considered highly taboo and distasteful and any printers avoided including their names in the imprint, possibly for fear of prosecution.’

It’s hardly risqué by today’s standards but from a historical perspective this text sounds absolutely fascinating – not least because of the quirky illustrations and dire warnings about the consequences of ‘sin’.

The post Alert Me: Amazon becomes Mary Whitehouse, Fifty Shades on Broadway, and an antique sex manual appeared first on Behind the Chintz Curtain.