Comments on: crazy and criminal: on those damn books, and why they matter

By: sexgeek

sexgeek — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:33:09 +0000

Thanks Lisa. The details are much appreciated.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:22:44 +0000

I just read the twitter feed and followed them on Facebook, back when they had a Facebook page (they were forced to close it, unfortunately). I did that because someone told me “book-burning”, and I thought, “That sounds unlikely,” so checked up. There was very little follow-up reporting, probably because “sorry, actually, feminists aren’t burning books after all” isn’t an interesting media story.

There’s actually a recent article up on The F Word about links between 50SoG and abuse, and at the bottom of the article you can find links to the 50 Shades Of Abuse campaign page and Twitter feed (if you google the twitter feed and the word “burning” you’ll find lots of conversation about the issue). Here’s the article: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2012/12/i_married_chris

I’m really just here to debunk the “book burning” argument, not to get into the wider argument. I think when disagreeing with the actions of feminists it’s important to disagree with the well-researched, confirmed facts of what happened, not with the media’s version, so I was here to make that more accurate.

By: sexgeek

sexgeek — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:21:49 +0000

Thanks, Lisa. Can you say anything about how you know all this, or do you have a link to any follow-up reporting on the story? With those precise details, it sounds like you must have either been there personally for the discussions or have knowledge from close to the source! Anyway, I must say, while composting is a lot less sensational than burning, it’s not necessarily any kinder, nor does it send a better message – it’s still the symbolic destruction of literature to make a political point, and it still makes me feel pretty icky.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:02:43 +0000

It was misrepresented in reporting, like the way that the throwing of “beauty” products in a “freedom trash can” has legendarily been misreported as “bra-burning”. It makes a good sensationalist story, and people are often very ready to believe that feminists are unkind or insensitive. In fact women discussed a number of ideas, and because the books are paper naturally someone suggested putting them on a bonfire. After discussion, women decided that was a bad idea (for the same reasons you did) and eventually decided that they’d turn the 24 donated copies into compost instead.

By: sexgeek

sexgeek — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:26:50 +0000

That’s a relief! Do you know why they changed their minds? Or have an article you could link to? I’m curious!