Banned Books Week is being acknowledged across the United States this week (Sept 28- Oct 3) at local libraries, universities, book stores, and the like. Banned Books Week is a historical remembrance of our freedom of speech and expression, presented and supported by the American Library Association.
Books such as Sex, Puberty, and All That Stuff: A Guide to Growing Up by Jacqui Bailey and Jan McCafferty; The Joy of Sex and The New Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort; Hang-ups, Hook-ups, and Holding Out: Stuff You Need to Know About Your Body, Sex, and Dating by Melisa Holmes and Trish Hutchison; and The Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein and Felice Picano were challenged or banned in various parts of the United States in the past year.
It is important to realize, however, that bans and challenges are not limited to books about sex and sexuality. Old and new classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; The Color Purple by Alice Walker; The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and many others were also challenged or banned during the past year around the country.
It is important to understand that when we start dictating what people can read, write, and watch, we are impinging on our constitutional freedoms. As Mark Twain said, “Censorship is telling a man he can’t eat steak because a baby can’t chew it.” This affects our freedom to express ourselves, not just through the written word or other media, but how we present ourselves to the world. How we choose to express our individuality, our sexuality, our personhood, is a freedom we have fought dearly for over the centuries. Don’t forget to allow the same freedoms to those around you as you would want for yourself.
Support your local library and bookstores and see what they are doing for Banned Books Week.
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