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Hey all, it's BBW (no, the other one)!!
Sep. 25th, 2006 07:39 pmYou probably know this already, but it's Banned Book Week once again. What are we banning? Mostly Harry Potter, but that's not all. I don't mind telling you that I find the very idea of banned books funny, even as it is a microcosm for much that is wrong with American today.
I've heard people say What's so wrong with wanting to keep offensive material out of the hands of children? Nothing really, except that "offense" is in the eye of the beholder. Some parents think very moral books about kids away at school are utter blasphemy because the children have magic wands. Others think The Bible is far too violent or sexually explicit for anyone under say, 16. So, like most things, the responsibility falls on parents to monitor what their children read. But, there always seem to be those types who aren't content to monitor their OWN children, and want to decide what EVERYONE's children are allowed to check out of a library, bring to school, or even be allowed to purchase without a parent. I am pleased to say that even with all of my own youthful nuttiness, I have never, EVER been told I couldn't read a specific book.
I read The Love Machine by Jacqueline Susanne in junior high!! While reading it at lunchtime, a nun confiscated it from me, and called my mom. Mom told her to mind her own business and give me my book back--and didn't she know that while there was no commandment about what not to read, there was a rule against stealing. Ha HA! That's the thing about bi-polar parents, sometimes they are alarmingly cool.
I have to wonder if there's anything you could put in a book that would really, truly need to be banned. Some peice of knowlege or an idea so destructive that the world really is better off not knowing about it. I doubt it. I don't think there is any knowlege that lessens us simply by knowing it. But I'd be interested to know of a legitimate reason for book banning; something other than I don't want my kid to hear about that until I've brainwashed them enough that I'm sure they'll disregard/mock/deny it when they do hear it, which is pretty much how book banning feels to me.
H and I went to the craft store today so I could get some embroidery floss, hoops, cross-stitch cloth and a couple of those little counted cross stitch kits because it always feels like cheating to follow the lines. I may well end up doing some crewel work for holiday gifts since I already know I don't suck at it. But if![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sleazeanna or sexyrockgoddess want to get together this week or next, I can totally clear some time for you's. I really do want to be able to do some simple knits and crochets. As I keep telling myself: I can do anything a blind old lady with arthritis can do! YEAH!!!
I will make H a scarf this year if I have to learn fuckin' macrame to do it. Maybe I can just tie a long succession of square knots until it looks like a scarf. That would be hilarious. Anyway, I'm not sure how we spent $60 on just a few small things at Michael's...it's a special skill of mine, I guess.
Then H and I rode the bus to Meijer so we could catch the #5 bus home. But that bus stopped running at 6 so we had to take a cab, even though we had already taken the bus farther away from where we live. At Meijer, they had this giant, inflatable gargoyle. It was bad ass. I wish I had room for it, because I would totally get one.
And now, I'm off to make a spicy potato soup with keilbasa. I love a nice homemade soup on a chilly day.
I've heard people say What's so wrong with wanting to keep offensive material out of the hands of children? Nothing really, except that "offense" is in the eye of the beholder. Some parents think very moral books about kids away at school are utter blasphemy because the children have magic wands. Others think The Bible is far too violent or sexually explicit for anyone under say, 16. So, like most things, the responsibility falls on parents to monitor what their children read. But, there always seem to be those types who aren't content to monitor their OWN children, and want to decide what EVERYONE's children are allowed to check out of a library, bring to school, or even be allowed to purchase without a parent. I am pleased to say that even with all of my own youthful nuttiness, I have never, EVER been told I couldn't read a specific book.
I read The Love Machine by Jacqueline Susanne in junior high!! While reading it at lunchtime, a nun confiscated it from me, and called my mom. Mom told her to mind her own business and give me my book back--and didn't she know that while there was no commandment about what not to read, there was a rule against stealing. Ha HA! That's the thing about bi-polar parents, sometimes they are alarmingly cool.
I have to wonder if there's anything you could put in a book that would really, truly need to be banned. Some peice of knowlege or an idea so destructive that the world really is better off not knowing about it. I doubt it. I don't think there is any knowlege that lessens us simply by knowing it. But I'd be interested to know of a legitimate reason for book banning; something other than I don't want my kid to hear about that until I've brainwashed them enough that I'm sure they'll disregard/mock/deny it when they do hear it, which is pretty much how book banning feels to me.
H and I went to the craft store today so I could get some embroidery floss, hoops, cross-stitch cloth and a couple of those little counted cross stitch kits because it always feels like cheating to follow the lines. I may well end up doing some crewel work for holiday gifts since I already know I don't suck at it. But if
sleazeanna or sexyrockgoddess want to get together this week or next, I can totally clear some time for you's. I really do want to be able to do some simple knits and crochets. As I keep telling myself: I can do anything a blind old lady with arthritis can do! YEAH!!!I will make H a scarf this year if I have to learn fuckin' macrame to do it. Maybe I can just tie a long succession of square knots until it looks like a scarf. That would be hilarious. Anyway, I'm not sure how we spent $60 on just a few small things at Michael's...it's a special skill of mine, I guess.
Then H and I rode the bus to Meijer so we could catch the #5 bus home. But that bus stopped running at 6 so we had to take a cab, even though we had already taken the bus farther away from where we live. At Meijer, they had this giant, inflatable gargoyle. It was bad ass. I wish I had room for it, because I would totally get one.
And now, I'm off to make a spicy potato soup with keilbasa. I love a nice homemade soup on a chilly day.
