You Should Be Worried About Literary Censorship

[@thequietestlilbucket8402]

As someone who is viscerally uncomfortable with sex scenes: the skill needed here is understand the things that make you uncomfortable aren't always bad or wrong, sometimes you just don't vibe with something totally normal. But that would be encouraging independent thought, and that's not what these people want.

[@capo3645]

I can't stand mukbang type videos where you closely watch someone eat it literally makes me feel sick. I guess we need to ban food?? Eating in public should be a crime???

[@Kardinaalilintu]

My exact thoughts! I agree 100% and feel exactly the same. People should really start realizing that even if YOU are one way, every one else might not be and that is ok...more than that, it's wonderful. How awful and dull would the world be if everybody was the same.

[@Theunfathomable0]

100% agree I don’t want to read smut but I will aggressively defend anyone’s rights to.

[@zabi_aka]

Yep. I also hate kissing scenes and sex scenes, as well as seeing other people eat/chew(and even talk at the same time) so i just turn away or close my eyes in these cases. Why people can't do the same is beyond me

[@Scriven42]

Whenever "The Handmaid's Tale" is on a ban list, you _KNOW_ what they're doing. The actual reasons to ban that book are non-existent...

[@Lielacvt]

if its for children then not poisoning the minds of the youth is on the list

[@ilanag6096]

i've only seen the tv show, so I'm not sure if this is in the books, but in the show there is repeated systemized (rhymes with grape) and considering the difficulty society has conceiving is the alleged impetus of the plot, it seems like it would be in the book too? i'm very much not endorsing the book ban but i understand why some parents wouldn't be ok with it.

[@phoenixmorphix]

Yeah, an outright ban *specifically* for this book is very sketchy. If they really wanted, they would have all books rated in maturity themes, like they do with games, and have them distributed in school libraries based on its rating. However, the thing is that they don't actually care, and are using "tHe ChilDren" as a scapegoat to express their personal discontent for the books content. When was the last time you heard an adult ask their kids about the supposed political radicalization in their school?

[@Lielacvt]

@phoenixmorphix children shouldn't read disgusting rape fantasies

[@aersla1731]

You'd think because they want that reality so badly they would be interested in a book about it lol

[@VesperOfRoses]

The paradox of heterosexuality being seen as "the natural way of things" that is morally correct and inherent to all life on earth yet also apparently needing scrict enforcement lest people be seduced away from it is such a damning view

[@LilGrayFox]

Something out there wants us dead. Survival is not a given. Life is a gift. No person would be alive today if it weren't for their parents heterosexually reproducing. The society that does not reproduce dies. Heterosexual relationships are the kind of relationships that lead to the creation of more people. Thus, they are the natural way as heterosexuality leads to the creation of more life. Homosexuality is good for those who want it but that doesn't change it from being a dead-end reproductively. Society is how it is because we live in a world full of danger. Our ancestors had to survive to get us here. Most of the things considered right have been considered right for a reason. We are blessed to be here now. We live lives where danger is not commonplace.

[@mittag983]

​@@LilGrayFoxNot all humans are breeders, Stanley.

[@FlameQwert]

@@LilGrayFox okay and? you want life to be more dangerous to bring back the "proper" pressures and thus social behaviour again? why not turn the argument around that countless generations wished life was better for their descendants, and thus we should enjoy that freedom that comes with what you say is a much safer life now? In any case, guilt-tripping peer pressure from dead people isn't a very compelling argument

[@VesperOfRoses]

@@LilGrayFox Literally nobody is seriously suggesting abolishing heterosexuality. Even with the existence of gay people a vast majority of human beings experience heterosexual attraction and reproduce. Just because *not everyone* does it, that doesn't mean humanity is going extinct. Not everybody on earth *needs* to reproduce (and indeed many want to but can't for whatever reason) to ensure the survival of humanity. Not everyone *should.* The only thing queer people ask for is the ability to live our lives with dignity and without shame, and without our relationships to be seen as inferior or lesser.

[@VesperOfRoses]

@@LilGrayFox Nobody is seriously suggesting abolishing heterosexuality. Heterosexuality will never stop being the majority attraction that people feel. Not everyone needs to reproduce for the survival of the species. Many want to reproduce but can't. Adoption is a thing. The only thing queer people want is to live their lives with dignity, respect, and for their love not to be seen as inherently lesser or inferior.

[@jinmushui1soul]

As someone who works in STEM education outreach, they don't want you to do STEM either, unless it's building pipelines and weapons or managing corporate finances.

[@alejandramoreno6625]

Yup, people who study hard sciences are usually well read and artistically oriented.

[@M_M_ODonnell]

They want T and a little bit of E, with M and S allowed on the side as long as it doesn't give any results they don't like. Oh, and the T and E are also only allowed when it's corporate-run (and students are pushed into either the T or the E track as early as possible and expected to accept their assigned caste). (None of this applies to the people actually making the money, who go for business if they get postsecondary education at all -- after all, if you're a CEO who hires mere engineers, your status makes you _clearly_ superior in engineering and scientific judgment). (Science, engineering, math, and tech can all be great...but the "STEM focus" crowd wants them all done wrong.)

[@kkamau5479]

Hight data literacy is just as bad for them as high media literacy which is why they're anti education entirely

[@sharkofjoy]

They also want to focus EXCLUSIVELY on theory with vague outcomes and only focus on how "smart" something is without following through to human and societal effects, especially when it comes to algorithms. I recently completed a comp sci and math degree and conversations on ethics were 100% absent from the classroom.

[@roadrollerdio565]

As someone who was in pure math before I left though I've still got many friends left in academia, they really don't care for us or for those in pure physics or chem unless we can show "applications" like for military or policing purposes and other nasty shit like that. Applying for grants constantly is such a joke. We're all creative types too in some sense because that's what research really requires and they don't understand or respect that.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Imagine being raised with the adage ‘You can be whatever you want’ and then dealing with an environment that’s hostile towards anything queer. The math is not mathing.

[@diabolicalpotate]

"You can be whatever you want, just as long as I approve of it". Alternatively: "Anything you want! No, not that!"

[@gregvs.theworld451]

@@diabolicalpotate "You can be whatever* you want!" *Terms and conditions apply

[@seeleunit2000]

Plenty of people do and it does suck. It sucks so much

[@CommanderLexaa]

life sometimes do be high school musical if it ended at “Stick to the Status Quo”

[@lousielouise8716]

“Be yourself… but run it by us first.” Chris Flemming

[@zeetuslupeedus]

Thank you for saying that the over focusing on STEM has left people unable to read. It also means that people have a hard time empathizing as well. The arts are fundamental to our development as human beings, and to see what's happening has been... yeah.

[@LarthV]

Speaking from experience, I would be careful with that. Many people including me loose all interest in something when forced to do it in school. Still like to read both books and news, but would not even touch one of the things we did in school - even if I might otherwise enjoy them…

[@ladygrey4113]

Actually the real reason kids can’t read is because a shit method called whole reading was the dominant method and chickens are coming to roost on that. See the sold a story podcast.

[@Frey12]

​@LarthV school is a large conversation but having folks do things they would have no other opportunity to do otherwise.

[@gregvs.theworld451]

If we want to increase branding and recognition for these fields, we can try using the HEAL acronym (Healthcare, Education, Administration, Literacy) in the same kind of shorthands as we use STEM, and encourage more men to get into HEAL fields and helm programs designed to financially support and incentivize men to get into HEAL fields.

[@FlameQwert]

idk if the causation is so simple- most polisci people I know are probably much more actively cruel and authoritarian in their politics than the average stem drone I've had to work with. Capitalism and the any ruling ideological hegemony is inhrently hostile to teaching the proles to read and think. The current mode of production requires more stem specialists to keep the gears running, so it's more obvious that there's a disconnect, but literary or political education programmes do not necessarily mean people are better at reading and communciating- we'd like to think so, since we're all the type to be on a politics-focussed video essay channel. Not to mention, in the specific case of fascist or fascist-adjacent reactionaries, they're not talking about "oh no the [insert in-group here] are losing the space race" it's "our KVLTVRE and OLD ART and POETRY and [insert art form here] used to be so profound and now is being RUINED ! !" If anything, if I wanted to make a simplistic judgement, I'd say reactionary thought is one side of the coin of romanticism in general- the kind of romanticism that arts as a cultural and social force has relied on since the 18th century- and that a scientific education primes one to question and think carefully about assumptions and priors and logical pitfalls utilised by conservatives appealing to tradition or some nebulous stability or in-group out-group dnamics. Of course, that last sentence *is* simplistic, but it has just as much (i.e., little) to back it up as "focussing on STEM makes people illiterate and prone to manipulation"

[@13realmusic]

One thing that comes to mind is how the teenage pregnancy “crisis” was something huge in the the baby boomers generation leading to all those awful young marriages, but it’s projected onto the younger generations who by the numbers had far less teen sex.

[@ladygrey4113]

This is exactly why I think it’s a moral panic of sorts that people care kids are having less sex. Long as the kids have medically accurate sex Ed, who cares that they’re not having sex. It’s frankly kinda weird for grown adults to be bothered that kids are supposedly having less sex.

[@lestatsluv317]

It's not that the younger generations had less sex as teenagers. It's that boomers were the last generation to not have access to birth control. Birth control wasn't legalized at all until 1962 and for the first decade or so after that, they could not get birth control pills unless they were married. They even had to show a marriage license to the doctor by law. Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z all had access to birth control...hence the drop in teen pregnancy.

[@mittag983]

I think it's because of the internet and less real social contacts. I'm a Gen Z, and it at least was like that for me and currently is for my younger siblings.

[@3ndlessL00p]

And then they also want to limit access to abortions...

[@batsofman8981]

THIS. Ugh, there so much moral panic going on. One of the things I noticed is someone saying a media they hate is overly sexual or lewd, focusing on those elements, since they know it isn't the current setting to say they hate the queer themes. My brother is falling down the alt-right pipeline and so much of what he says is obvious rhetoric. Last year he was going off on how sexual Balders Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 is and that they are "inappropriate". When I pointed out how they are both 18+ games, he pivots to say he hates the sexual tones since they are "going too far" to appeal to "new crowds", that overtly sexual stuff in media is lewd and they shouldn't make so much of it (note: he is a Witcher and Games of Thrones fan). The clutching pearls and "think of the children" behaviour when it's about adult content is 100% a mask to hide bigotry, even when people say its not. And when it comes to children/teens content, they seem to drop that mask and be overtly a bigot. Thanks for this video! You put some of the thoughts I was having into such clear perspective! Pointing out how moral panic about sex is a big red flag for wanting to pass discrimitory legislation and normalise bigotry is very important in these times. Again, wonderful video! Take care!

[@eurosis]

I actually greatly disliked GoT, because easily 80% of all the sex and sexual violence scenes were gratuitous. Yes, it's for adults, but it just felt jarring to me, because the show is not about sex. I don't mind it when it's the point. I didn't mind erotic scenes in "Lady Chatterley's Lover", for instance. I didn't mind them in "50 Shades of Grey". In fact, I would say there weren't enough of them and they weren't graphic enough. But it's a question of taste, I guess. And I agree it's very hypocritical to complain about oversexualization in media when you're a fan of shows like GoT.

[@cedaremberr]

​@@eurosis I think gratuitous sex is fine, if that's your thing, but the way GoT uses sexual violence is pretty upsetting. I hate how quickly tv (and film) writers go to sexual violence to up the stakes or create trauma for female characters. It's lazy and it makes so much media inaccessible for people with still healing sexual trauma

[@cameron21086]

"Asking to be seen as people was obscene" "The sin is to want to be seen" DAMN............................. such a powerful line. What an important throughline from then to now

[@MulberryDays]

"Comstock just sounds like a tag on ao3" rip me trying to drink coffee and breathe at the same time.

[@MulberryDays]

as it turns out, spit takes are not as funny irl as they are on sitcoms. on the bright side, hot coffee didn't go up my nose. so. small favors.

[@IdrilSilmarien]

I laughed out loud at this too. 😂 Thankfully I wasn’t trying to eat or drink at the same time.

[@Princess_Weekes]

I'm glad you are still with us!

[@maraque16]

My brain has been automatically changing Comstock to Cumsock

[@animeotaku307]

I work in a library (librarian in all but name and pay) and Project 2025 definitely has me dreading what’s to come. My only solace is that I’m in a state that banned book bans, so I’m hoping that will be some protection in the coming years. Also, I’ll have to check out Incogni so no one finds out what fanfic I’m reading and writing.

[@diabolicalpotate]

I hope your library gets by unscathed and that your state protections do their work. Libraries are so essential to communities (and sadly underappreciated), free access to books of so many topics is huge and is obviously only the tip of the iceberg as for as what libraries offer. It's so frustrating that people want to restrict or harm these places.

[@maristiller4033]

I did a project in my first year seminar of undergrad on American obscenity law and books that were important in changing it so the name Anthony Comstock woke up a deep rage in me like a sleeper agent.

[@86fifty]

Oh saaaaame, when I heard that fjjin name in the news again, I just... Yeah XD You get it.

[@ellabiddy4741]

I’m so glad my mom felt the need to expose us to other cultures, like even visiting nude-optional beaches (we were NOT nude) in the Caribbean when I was like 8 cause she wanted us to know that in other cultures a body is a body and it’s about perspective. And it was so funny seeing the locals walk around all casual, and the American tourists going into the water to take their top off, swing it around, and put it back on before getting out lol

[@donnaimanbrown]

That last bit about being accused of elitism when pointing out the failure of our education systems, I feel like just exposes that people are more concerned with “winning” an argument/the discourse, rather than having any sort of like developed critique of systemic inequality. People can’t read because they aren’t being adequately taught how to do it, and that lack of teaching directly benefits those in power who know it’s easier to manipulate people when they lack information and the ability to critically engage with information. Elitism is restricting people’s access to reading skills… yet people pointing that out are called elitist. It’s like claiming ableism, when people try to advocate for validating alternative formats of reading (like audiobooks or tablets). I guess it’s like hard to tell sometimes when people are doing that because they literally have no understanding of the words they are using, or when it’s a literal troll who knows they can throw out these words to incite reactions from people, that they can manipulate to their benefit.

[@tonyagibbs1963]

💯

[@brookeelliott7549]

Yes and it captures leftists. When I was talking to a friend about the reading crisis she accused me of elitism and ableism, even though I explained that the problem is the education systems failing our children, not that seeing it as a problem can only come from wanting to shame the kids for being too disabled to read. 25% of American children are not so disabled that they are incapable of learning how to read, but she was painting it like that was the actual case and not that schools are failing the kids. She also told me that reading and education are elitist in general, because education isn't necessary to be a regular person. It was a strange conversation.

[@donnaimanbrown]

@@brookeelliott7549 yeah, people are coming to ill-conceived conclusions. It’s like instead of critiquing the systems that gatekeep the skills and refuse to adapt to the individual needs and capabilities of individuals, people have resorted to just thinking we should abandon the skills altogether. Which is definitely easier to do and more within your ability to control as an individual, but that doesn’t make the resulting issues of those skills being lost suddenly go away because you stopped expecting people to have them. The issue is inaccessibility, which is driven by structural violences like elitism and ablism. It’s not elitist and ableist to care about people’s development. It’s elitist and ableist to assume that someone’s class and disability precludes them from the ability to comprehend things. You modify your expectations and adapt. That’s not the same thing as abandoning people on the assumption that they simply just can’t do it. We can and could, when we have accessible support systems that have the ability to adapt to us. Which requires work and active engagement, that people feel too overwhelmed to do. The critiques are what and how we educate people. Giving people the freedom to learn what they want, at their own pace, and without the limitations of money and their physical abilities. The ability to learn is something that benefits you for life, and a skill we should be developing for as long as we can. It shouldn’t be something people do to simply partake in the workforce. It’s not something we simply need to pay off our loans, and our bills, to put roofs over our heads, food in our mouths, or to help corporations make more money than we’ll ever see in our lifetimes. Education is a right everybody deserves, so the question is how do we ensure that right for everybody.

[@starsiegeRoks]

​@@brookeelliott7549 I wouldnt even call her a "lefist", whatever that term means anymore. If anything I would call her an unofficial member of the old "know-nothing" political party. And thats a problem your reply made me think about. Do we even know what "leftism" and "conservativism" means in the modern context anymore? Ive noticed that alot of well-poisioning in political discourse is because both participants have their own definitions of what right and left is politically, so the conversation devolves into character assassination because we can't even agree on what were arguing over fundementally.

[@franny.22]

Saying "She hasn't been on Girl Meets World in over a decade. Thank god." followed closely by "She knew my anime tastes were... sadly." should get you within the 10 finalists for a Pulitzer

[@arturia-leafgreen5127]

This was a really insightful look at the current literacy crisis. I think examining the context that anti-intellectualism comes from is very important. The american politics that fuel this wave of disrespect for the arts have consequences that extend far beyond america. I have been very frustrated with recent refusal to examine the background of anti-literacy sentiments and I think the type of analysis present in this video is important.

[@Theomite]

As a Slacker (Gen X) I never forgot the lessons of the 20th Century, namely the rise of the Third Reich. We were always taught to be vigilant about how It CAN Happen Here. I think 50 years of relative Liberal stability created an overconfidence that we had outgrown this shit and therefore any predictions/projections were overreacting or doom-mongering. My validation brings me no comfort or joy as even in the face of this, denialism still carries so much weight.

[@MS-rp1vz]

I feel like you could couple this with a mistaken believe that "the passage of time" naturally equals "progress". There's a belief that progress, technology, knowledge, human rights, etc. only evolve towards greater/better/faster/stronger/deeper, but that need not actually be the case (and I would argue, isn't). We can (and have) lost progress in all kinds of ways, not just politically. Like let's look at appliances, for example. Major household appliances peaked in quality/efficiency and have been declining for some time now. They're made of worse materials, they break down and cannot be repaired, they're barely under warranty for more than 5 years, and they aren't that affordable when you compare them to what it costs to produce them. My grandmother's appliances are a higher quality than anything you can find commonly for sale today. Same thing with clothing. I just learned today about how "fast fashion" rose out of a period of time where clothing was maximally affordable and of a higher quality, made from natural fibres that don't deteriorate nearly as easily as acrylic/elastane/polyester etc. do. I apologise for the digression, but it's a logical fallacy that people assume that history is progressing towards some kind of ultimate level of knowledge/efficiency/quality. While yes, we have made great advances over centuries of time, those achievements are temporary. We take them for granted, but they *can* be lost. Products can become worse, poverty can increase, people can lose or forsake knowledge, rights can be stripped away, we can run out of resources, empires can fall.

[@Theomite]

@@MS-rp1vz Exactly why I made sure to remember the most important lesson of WWII: "no matter how far we've come, what tools we have, or how much we've learned, we are still just as terrible as we used to be, and we will continue to apply our new tricks with our old ways UNLESS we stop ourselves."

[@CommanderLexaa]

Me, who read the Wicked book at the age of 9 and is my favorite book since: 👁👄👁 But seriously, if you as a parent dont check what the books you get for your kids have, thats on you, boo

[@shirleymarie2288]

This exactly, i have teens and preteens; I look at what theyre reading and watching to see what seems age appropriate and what doesn't. I wouldn't want my 12 year old reading some of the things that are appropriate for adults or teens; but I allow my 16 year old to comsume media that is a bit more mature.

[@paula474]

"turning your brain off can't work if you don't have basic literary skills" mmhm 🎯

[@aprilchardy1]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! I've been loud about this, and everyone said I was overreacting. They told me the same thing when i said they were coming for abortion. I'm a romance ghostwriter, and I'm going to lose my job bc I dont want to go to prison. I've been on BookTok talking about it, and getting, But books aren't political. It's frustrating that the BookTok readers will read anything but Project 2025.

[@starsiegeRoks]

They will read it once they are living under it, unfortunately. Something someone in my life said, not famous or anything, but it stuck with me. "Many people will only educate themselves when they really feel the weight of their own ignorance." Once they start wondering why the book or movie or game that they like isn't available anymore, the rabbit hole will lead them to P2025, but only after they have felt the effects of it for long enough for it to confuse them.

[@seeleunit2000]

Thank you for this video analysis. Because I swear, whenever there is any discussion on either a book, a webtoon, or a film that has any adult content or queer content, people begin to lose their minds. They come so judgemental & puritanical in their complaints about a piece of media it makes you wonder to yourself "are they doing this for ratings or do they just have no ability to absorbed topics that aren't at the level of a toddler ?" Once again, this was very informative.

[@nabilahalshari7880]

Watching this video as a fan of Chinese queer media, so censorship will always be a point of interest. It should be noted that regardless of whether you find certain works of fiction personally repulsive, loudly advocating for their ban is always going to be a form of virtue signaling and pro-authoritarian establishment. Punitively stamping out anti-social values don't actually address the root causes of these ideas, it just makes them less visible. In my country, the 50 shades of grey novels had been openly sold in bookstores and were only banned after the movie came out. Nothing about the content of these books had changed, nothing about the conditions of society had changed, just the increase of visibility caused moral panic. Similarly Love Simon was banned in my country, but the book is still sold in bookstores. Chinese gay novels too can be bought hush hush. You can ban books all you want, you can't ban everything and people will always find loopholes. I guess that is part of the point, to make sure these ideas don't reach the mainstream and to keep them marginalized, but if these so called "moral values" are so universal and objective, you'd think it would be easier to maintain them.

[@jadeliu1462]

Do you have any recommendations for Chinese queer media?

[@nabilahalshari7880]

@@jadeliu1462 like i mentioned there's a lot of novels getting translated now. but if you want something more easily accessible, there's some shows on netflix: - the untamed and word of honor, based on queer novels but censored. - your name engraved therein, not exactly chinese but a story about two boys set during after martial law ended in Taiwan. - The On1y One (yes that's how you spell it), filmed in taiwan but based on a chinese novel. for something sapphic there's couple of mirrors on youtube, though again censored. for older movies, there's lan yu and farewell my concubine.

[@katara2021]

​@jadeliu1462 Not op but these are some of my favs though most od them are fantasy, horror, etc. Thousand Autumns, Joyful Reunion by Fei Tian Ye Xiang (he is a male queer author with multiple books), Heaven's Official Blessing, Star Around the Sun, Mist and Kaleidoscope of death. Danmei and webnovels are great but you have to sort through a lot of stuff. Some are straight up smut books while others only have romance as a minor subplot while having really good plot. Mo Dao Zu Shi is also good.

[@Scriven42]

"Oh won't someone Please think of the children!" Simpsons proving art imitates life since forever...

[@seeleunit2000]

... Helen Lovejoy is every hypocritical Christian that cries think of the children as a ploy to push an agenda for controlling the populus. This is just reflecting that

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Anyone else think that books are hold to a higher standard because they're seen as intellectual? Because a lot of the books that become popular are the literary equivalent to Keeping up with The Kardashians, Ex on the Beach & Storage Wars. Basically white noise (shows you can replace with nature footage and a relaxing soundtrack). And people seemed resistant to the idea of exposable literature.

[@Cudddlefish]

I mean we used to have that attitude with literature, and a lot of works like sci-fi and fantasy still struggle to be taken seriously by the public at large. I think that it’s just that as new media appears, a mystique develops around older forms.

[@itowilltube]

They are saying curiosity is a dying trait in the American culture so along with attention span of readers also reflect low attention span writers.... yeah i could see Kuwk level of entertainment being common. After this video we can all say It ends with Us....

[@lk-l2818]

I don't think it's so much books are seen as intellectual on their own, but that the act of reading as a whole was seen and used as both an indicator of class, as well as religious indoctrination and moral training. The literature Canon and even being taught Literature as a subject (not the Classics like the aristocrats were taught) is seeped into European history. Who is allowed to read and has access to reading materials has been a huge part of social hierarchy and control.

[@FlameQwert]

@@itowilltube I don't think america is that important as to herald the end of well-thought literature in general lol

[@seeleunit2000]

Currently it's fashionable to be reading certain sorts of books. There are targeted towards people who have no interest in critical thought, and who only want cheap thrills... And even then some of those people don't read them. We all know those people who pretend to be intellectuals for clout. But there are still books that are worth reading and interesting, but they don't get much attention

[@packman2321]

I always find these attacks on queer fiction somewhat distressing, because I think people often miss that this is an attack on children's literature too. I think about the travelling libraries of cheap gothic fiction that that Mary Shelly and Poe had access to as children, the magazine fiction that inspired writers like Lovecraft or Kirby, and how many modern creatives have memories of reading outside their demographic as children? Fundamentally, conservatives have this joint desire to compress children into this very infantalised demographic image, while also not respecting children's fiction enough to allow for the actual complexity of works within it (I'm personally thinking of Katy and the Girl Who Circumnavigated fairyland, but I'm sure every can think of children's fiction that deals with difficult topics or complex narratives). This sort of gatekeeping leads to worse children's fiction, worse child readers, worse adult fiction and a more fragmented useless culture (I'd raise the similar efforts of Soviet children's publishers as an example) and in so far as there is a risk of of children encountering difficult or traumatic reading material, I think this too is misconstrued. As someone who was afraid of Noddy of all things, I can confirm that the aim to prevent children encountering upsetting media is both impossible and actively harmful, especially when it comes at the expense of building the skills to support children in engaging with that difficulty and managing it. Kids should know that they can stop reading if they want. They should know that they can go and talk to people about how they feel about a work, without being judged for reading that work. They should be able to talk to each other about media, both without and with adults. Children can and have read all sorts of media across history, without imploding. Heck, as we can see from fanfiction or gothic fiction, they've written a good deal of it. They don't need some walled garden. They need options and access to tools for engaging productively with media. And we need to recognise that many of the complaints we charge as issues with 'children' are just issues. I've sort of spiralled here, but I think there's a quote from an essay I once read on children's appropriation of gothic fiction in the 18th century (I unfortunately have not been able to refind it). In discussing children's use of horror and tragedy mediums, written for adults, in the previous generation, the author concludes a difficulty in dividing demographics cleanly in any era. I believe they sum it up as 'All good fiction is children's fiction in the end.' Also, a brief note, but the association of childhood and femininity is still very much active in modern climates. You can see this in the significant association of both minorities with the domestic sphere, the manner in which both are tone policed, and the way they are associated with consumer habits rather than production in media discourse. Bickford addresses this in Tween Pop quite well, I also believe Mitchell and Reid-Walsh cover it in Seven Going on Seventeen (looking at the alleged adultification of children and the origins of demographic categories in marketing history). This contrasts quite interestingly with the prior association of young men with adulthood, and is probably still the main prop of the classic tendency to delegitimise both teens and women by associating emotions with chemical cause (hormones typically) rather than situation.

[@Lielacvt]

queer fiction is mostly fanfiction tier change my mind

[@flowerheit4512]

​@@Lielacvt The Color Purple by Alice Walker

[@starsiegeRoks]

​@@Lielacvt im convinced that people who recycle that old crowder meme are just trolling. You really dont want your mind changed huh? Not that I could, I dont read gothic literature. It also seems like you have already made your mind up, so no point either lol.

[@phoenixrage1]

"She knew what my anime tastes were...sadly..." Girl I felt that in my SOUL lmao

[@mandarinduck]

We just had a bunch of people decrying censorship in videogames just earlier this year. Surely those free speech warriors who made such an uproar over skimpy videogame outfits would also care about much more egregious and dangerous forms of censorship like this right?

[@starsiegeRoks]

They say free speech, but they dont really know what it means. Unless you have read the U.S Constitution or thought really hard about it, the word freedom means "the ability to do what I want to do" to them, and it DOES NOT MEAN "the ability for others to do what I do not like." Culture warriors on the right have made very good use of mirror world rhetoric (saying they love free speech, while banning books and suing media, which are forms of speech whether you like them or not). Thats just one example. Another is saying your for the children, but then many red states want to cut financial assistance to new mothers and children in schools.

[@samadactyl8724]

For years watching the pro ship vs anti fights from tumblr to twitter really sapped my hope. It’s been obvious this is coming but got blown off by so many people for so long.

[@starsiegeRoks]

"It wont happen here" right?

[@niam.2147]

Between watching this and listening to a girls guts and giallo episode right before, I'm going to go finish the fanfic that would absolutely get me brought up on charges of obscenity. Thanks for the inspo.

[@greeneyedm5921]

Another amazing video, thank you Princess 🙌🏻 Lady Chatterley will always have a special place in my heart since I read it in secondary school and used it as a basis for one of my essays when I applied to Cambridge (I didn't get in haha) Would be super interested to hear your opinion on the two unpublished versions of the novel (if you've read them) and what the change in the ending/in Connie's agency implies! Also big thank you for introducing the Well of Loneliness (it goes on the top of my to read list) and for saying the problem with STEM being basically forced on us as the only field worthy of study in the last couple of decades. Makes me really sad how people don't seem to realise that it led us to having now generations of adults who lack empathy/basic comprehension skills and don't seem to recognise fascism when it has literally stopped hiding itself.

[@PanEtRosa]

do you know how one could find the unpublished versions? I'm dying to know what this change you mention is.

[@greeneyedm5921]

@@PanEtRosa they've been published as The First and Second Lady Chatterley Novels (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of D. H. Lawrence). I haven't reread them in a good 10 years but as far as I recall the ending is different in all three of them and Mellors is quite a different character in the first one, even his name is different.

[@phaIIicaIIyimpaired]

'Comstock' is a tag I'd expect to see on Wallstreet RPF 😂 Censorship advocates consider themselves the moral arbiters of society. If something makes them uncomfortable, they automatically assume it means it must be immoral and thus should be banned. Excellent and important video. Edit: Had to stumble to my fainting couch at the thought of my non-existant servants finding all the explicit Hannigram fic and art I've created in the last few months 😩

[@NM-eb9pw]

the fact that words like sex still have to be censored for this video to be on youtube is so sad

[@thebooknitter]

Love to see again my favorite author Oscar Wilde be brought to the censorship applied to his works and his sad ending.

[@someguy3767]

I've always wanted a video like this, but have always been reluctant to search for one because, oof, it's a topic that is easy to 'get wrong'. Thank you!

[@chelle5932]

Omg for real😅

[@ahsokatanoss]

The lack of basic reading comprehension is something I've been talking about for YEARS. You pair that with the constant push to try and ban books and we've just left with the current state of affairs. The thing that people don't seem to understand when it comes to books and trying to ban them is that not everything that makes you uncomfortable is bad. One of the points of reading a variety of different books is that you very much should encounter topics that make you uncomfortable -- this is how you learn and grow.

[@katara2021]

One of the worst things is the idea that something bad in the novel or something bad in the novel handled badly by the author is equal to the author's actual desires, mentality, morality, etc.

[@starsiegeRoks]

​@@katara2021and thats the core of alot of authoritarian thought. "Anything you say and do is a reflection of who you really are." They either lack or reject the ability that humans have to be truly individualistic. For all the harping on about individualism, alot of people have beaten themselves into stereotypes and see everyone else as the same, a stereotype who is incapable of changing. It's why authoritarians go after free speech so much, because they want to create a system so that when you say the wrong thing, they are able to fit you into a punishable stereotype that is punishable because people do not change to them.

[@isaacleguin2171]

Typical incredible Princess Weekes video. And this is the perfect topic for her too! No one else handles the politics of pleasure with the same understanding and empathy that she does. I can't wait to listen to the podcast - Weekes podcast is truly a dream come true for me.

[@beachwitch89]

"The secret entrances" took me out

[@deadmanreading3152]

Yeah, God forbid any of these "caring" mothers do anything about child poverty.

[@JamieBensonTV]

YES. The precedent of right to privacy has fallen. Besides putting in danger woman across the nation, the right to queer sex and marriage is very much at risk. I did a whole video about Lawrence v Texas and the legalization of gay sex on my channel if interested. Thanks for bringing it up!!

[@notmoreflippingelves]

I do think it would be fun to do as you suggest and start making Comstock Law violations into a popular AO3 tag. New twist on Shop Around the Corner/You've Got Mail AU where your feuding coworker ships are secret penpals who send smutty zines of their OTP through the mail.

[@Dragonkitty_101]

This was a wonderful video!! I was looking into the history of media censorship and restriction based on obscenity before watching this, and your takes were so refreshing!! You are an example of the level of quality I'd like to have if I start making video essays because you bring up so many things that most people might ignore but are so indicative of how society changes and regresses as republicans regain power. I was so touched by the the story of The Well of Loneliness' author because, even if I'm not *lesbian* per se, I related to it so heavily. I think the method you approach with these commentaries- naming historical examples and the origins of movements- is so important because, like you said, people are only focused on the now/present, and don't see how the origins of something is often indicitave of how it still is now, in our modern society. Thank you for these videos, they always make my entire month when they come out because of how well you cover them.

[@SystemFailing]

Maybe your best work yet. Loved this. I’m reading Dorian Gray for the first time right now, had always heard there was gay subtext, and I’m constantly amazed at how NOT subtextual it is. It’s a gay romance book, and it’s messy, and I love it, but I digress. Your point about how tightly Christians have to “protect” heterosexuality was fantastic.

[@phadenswandemil4345]

I read the picture of Dorian Gray when I was about 13, I was gay but I had no idea and I didn't know anything about Oscar Wilde. So, a lot of the queerness I dismissed it as "old timey flowery language" lol. It is very interesting to hear how much that was not the case.

[@oliviasmith9033]

I could've watched a seven-hour version of this video. So interesting, I loved it!

[@katiegrossman2338]

I fully agree with you. Censorship and reading comprehension is such a huge problem. I know you’ve probably talked about it some other time but I think another big part of this is the censorship from the younger generations as well. Being unable to read critically or read anything deemed “problematic” or even saying no one should read something because you find a thing wrong has blown up and I think we as a society need to relearn the idea of don’t like don’t read.

[@13realmusic]

Damn, Perks shouldn’t be getting dragged in this. It also is very helpful in how it depicts PTSD from sexual trauma.

[@animeotaku307]

You just hit on the real reason why it’s challenged

[@princbubblegum]

saw this on nebula and it was great! can’t wait to watch it again❤

[@marilucs]

Thats why im get so mad at people that complains about hot fiction/literature, saying its "too much" or that it should be banned. You can dislike something, thats not the problem. But once you open the gates to "censorship" to one fiction theme, you open them to EVERYTHING and everyONE under the sun And watching young people say stuff like that, agreeing with censorship, is really scary

[@JuliaH-c6f]

I first learned about Radclyffe Hall in The Book of Awesome Women Writers by Becca Anderson. And during the whole ordeal of preventing The Well of Loneliness from being banned, Virginia Wolf herself came to help Hall as well as Vera Brittan. Still got banned. But what's even MORE interesting is the fact that Maya Angelou, MAYA ANGELOU, read The Well of Loneliness in her teens. She thought she was a lesbian for a second! I know this because I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She actually put the fact that she read The Well of Loneliness in the book!

[@angryhistoryguy5657]

"Jesus narrative happened in Roman times is" is the sort of basic knowledge that I assumed was standard, which is why I've been so baffled by the current trend of Christians wanting to adopt Jewish traditions like the Passover Seder "because Jesus was Jewish", ignoring the dramatic changes that have taken place within Judaism, largely the result of being a diaspora religion surrounded by... Christians.

[@FlameQwert]

christians in general are not known for their knowledge of judaism, and this paradox of wanting to claim the historical legacy of judaism while claiming to supersede it is kind of fundamental to the way it developed post first century. a bit of an ugly thing, tbh

[@M_M_ODonnell]

Most of the Christians wanting to appropriate a few outward signs of Judaism aren't doing so because they feel a real connection but because they feel entitled to _ownership_ of Judaism. They're the Christians who insist that _their_ interpretation of bits of Jewish scripture taken in isolation represent _real_ Judaism (and take for granted that all Jewish people either agree with them or are wrong). It used to surprise me about how spectacularly ignorant about Judaism so many Christians are who _actively consider themselves experts_ (I'm not an expert on the topic at all -- I'm at the level of "have had a lot of conversations with Jewish friends and family who have gone deep into the history of the religion and in college listened to the history and religious studies folks") because they've studied the (usually Evangelical) Christian interpretation of texts borrowed from Judaism and consider these interpretations the only possible or correct ones.

[@starsiegeRoks]

If you think about it from the current MAGA zeitgheist and pay attention to evangelical politics, the connection becomes clear. Funnily enough, Margaret Atwood illustrates this very will with the "Sons of Jacob" in The Handmaids Tale. Currently, alot of christians are believing that Jesus was too "liberal and woke", choosing to no longer preach about the Sermon on the Mount. In turn, many evangelicals are drifting towards a more Old Testament interpretation of Christianity with Jesus as written edited out, because the old testament describes a "stronger" and "vengeful" god that fits the New Epostolic Reformation's definition of strength. (Thats what these new christians call themselvs, the new apostolic reformation).

[@HeavenlyPress]

10:30. I wish that conversation was about not guilting children into abandoning their passions in hopes of a high paying job in the future because some of the most successful people in stem are also the most creative and well read. But we love an US vs THEM topic

[@moustik31]

Open Tabs?! Im so excited. Also, you share this podcast name with Booktubers Jess Owen and Mara! Theirs is called "Welcome to Our Open Tabs". Edit: I just finished watching Megan Thee Stallion's documentary on Prime Video. It's a shame, that "nobody" seems to have watched it/commented on it. Love your shirt!

[@veryirishdude]

As always a great video! Love how the banned books list continues to be a recommended reading list for anyone sane.

[@leekenneth-walsh3545]

Wild that I'm watching this video right after giving my friend a copy of Fahrenheit 451 as his Christmas present, and explaining the basic premise to him and how it's only become more relevant since it was published...

[@parapro3799]

Thanks!

[@Nkanyiso_K]

Awesome to see *THE COMIC SHOP!* Kickstarter plug

[@booklover569]

"Poetry!" I chocked on a gummy bear !!!

[@davidppenney8444]

I think you’re a wonderful video essayist. Brings me back to university days and studying literature. Thank you!

[@NM-eb9pw]

I am sooooo seated for open tabs that looks AMAZING

[@cerosis]

I heard that sneaky Legal Eagle shout out

[@camraan]

i haven't finished the video (so idk if PW mentions these things) but I just wanted to recommend Audre Lorde's essay "Notes on the Erotic" and adrienne maree brown's book "Pleasure Activism." A lot of both of their works reflect a queer, disabled, femme and black experience, as well as ways to help reprogram our thinking to reflect seeking pleasure against a white supremacist capitalist colonialist ableist patriarchy. These are great introductions to navigating pleasure (not limited to sexual or romantic feelings) without succumbing to individualism!

[@FullCircleTZ]

Outstanding work here.

[@michellepittman7886]

Omg… I hear ppl really need to find something else to do. Save all this energy for keeping guns and drugs out of the schools. I don’t want these ppl dictating what is appropriate for me and my children to read.

[@starsiegeRoks]

Well unfortunately, they will. They are in power and the writing is on the wall. Guns are in, drugs will be how they have always been, and "problematic" books are out.

[@neilb1382]

open tabs is an amazing name for a podcast about fanfiction. excited to listen!!!!

[@Mic-Mak]

1:56 LOVE THE T-SHIRT. LOVE THE SONG.

[@chibiktsn3]

I am eternally grateful for your well researched and nuances video essays, especially on such thorny and important topics! 💖

[@papi_sativa]

I am rock hard. Thank you so much for this video.

[@C.C.Cope220]

Having this video, come up on my feed after literally just seeing the news that Disney cut a trans storyline from a new Pixar streaming show is wild

[@Piasays]

I really love these sorts of videos. Thank you for this

[@yohtan]

God such good video, Princess. Thank you.

[@Alex-ph5ir]

OMG I am so fucking excited about your NSFW fanfic podcast!!! That fills a very specific content craving I have. Can't wait to check it out!

[@alexandramoore8200]

Excellent video! The frustration i feel at the idea of people enforcing their beliefs in a way that impacts what kids (and adults!) have access to read is infuriating. When i was a kid, i read a lot and if the library was stopping me from leaving the "kids books" area i would not have kept a love of reading. And reading books with queer characters is a way for a kid to feel seen, and might be the only way if they're not in an accepting home. Rage !

[@cynicalhobo]

Great video, Excellent points as always, but I just wanted to say glad to have the old ending theme song back. Such a bop and a never skip for me.

[@destined2bebossy]

Open tabs is such a GREAT podcast name!

[@OBecs]

Last yeah I went on a trip to Rye where Radcliffe Hall lived and made my friend take a picture of me outside their little townhouse, to the confusion of many older people.

[@jacobsirois7585]

Thank you, please keep on stating your opinions loudly.

[@mrlagoonslawyer]

just wanted to say that this channel has been such a safe haven to see discussion and analysis for me- i haven't really commented much before but its always a good time on here :)

[@dka54]

They have been telling you to do STEM now your children can't read!!! Truer words have never been said!! Wait a moment. I need to look into this.

[@raingset]

The things popping up on ChatGPT are obscene

[@BigBadWolframio]

Great video as always, but I wanted to comment specifically about the outro theme ❤😊

[@readilykatie8312]

Awesome video as always! ❤

[@JerzCe73]

What a wonderful ending to a historic year. Congratulations pretty Princess!!

[@lookitskatiex]

OMG Judy Krug mentioned. She’s my inspiration as a librarian. An icon. ❤

[@billyalarie929]

Your theme music stays the actual best in the game.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Toni Morrison is the last person in the Milky Way to have her books banned.

[@not8brand]

oh my gosh i've been wanting to that chasing amy doc and you're in it!! absolutely love your videos and this one is just as interesting, poignant and fun

[@DrustZapat]

Great video! Thanks for making it 😊

[@epis8613]

My librarian friend is routinely threatened by members of the public.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The title of this video reminded me of the TV show ‘Minx’ which imho was slept on and more people should’ve seen it. 1:59 T-Shirts That Go Hard: Exhibit A

[@mrlagoonslawyer]

wait i only just noticed the loustat framed fanart in the backround omg😩

[@THEEStickyxbootz]

More books to add to my “don’t tell me what to read” list

[@jackdoyle7453]

Given the it's lit clips and other words. Will we be seeing more episodes of it's lit soon? Americans should really be proud of the high quality web content PBS puts out.

[@meander112]

Engagement for the engagement god!

[@lindseygarciafreiberg]

AS A LIBRARIAN I HAVE NEVER CLICKED ON A VIDEO SO FAST

[@natbatinator]

another banger, life is good

[@cassied.6731]

using this video as an excuse to add some classics that actually sound interesting to me to my tbr

[@ShiniGuraiJoker]

Enjoyed the video and have much to think about.

[@ItKnowsYou]

I think the most insane “won’t you please think of the children” take I’ve seen on tumblr was someone saying shipping two HOTD characters together was immoral bc the actor was underage.

[@emilymatthews2990]

More importantly we wouldn’t have these issues with the “won’t you please think of the children” things would be if parents parented better. The government SHOULD NOT be in charge of what is seen as appropriate for children.

[@randomgirl2282]

To be fair a real underage person is different from a fictional character. I agree with you but there’s absolutely a section of the fandom that makes all the normal ones look bad

[@tvnet222]

"turning your brain off can't work if you don't have basic literary skills" aye, say it louder for those in the back!!! T_T

[@avaruusmakkara5176]

I think I'll go and read Lady Chatterley's Lover again... 😊

[@HugoCortizo]

Comstock's name was sounding weirdly familiar to me until I realised that he's the inspiration for the bad guys on that Analee Newitz time travel novel the title of which I can never recall