to think that DD1 should be allowed to read whatever book she likes while on her break at work?

[wongadotmom]

DD1 (21) has just told me she was asked into the office at work today as a complaint had been made against her.

She initially assumed that it had been to do with her work but learned that two women had actually complained that they were offended by the book she had been seen reading while on her lunch break.

The book was 'Porno' by Irvine Welsh - I have not read the book myself therefore cannot judge whether it is offensive or not.

DD said that she was really into the book at the moment and offered to put a cover over the book so that no one could see what she was reading.

She was told no and must show more sensitivity to the womens' religion and must not bring the book into work again.

She is a little shaken up by this incident as nothing like this has ever happened to anyone else and people actually read The Sun and The Mail during their breaks with no problem.

I have told her that she should be allowed to read whatever she wants on her unpaid break but AIBU?

Get her a kindle.

I know I already commented, but what I omitted to say was that it is a great shame that the people who were offended, or claimed to be offended did not initially approach your daughter.

To an extent I take the point about what is appropriate in public, but that would more be to avoid upsetting/offending impressionable young children.

I don't find the cover of Porno offensive. I've not read the book. I would be rather foolish to imagine that it was a book of pornography.

I'd be far more offended by someone reading the Daily Mail.

But how many people say: 'Ooh! I hate confrontation' when they do in fact want to confront, but in a sneaky way?

So what they do is complain to a line manager who may be scared of confrontation too, even though it her job to sometimes tackle difficult situations.

So what this line manger did is uphold a stupid complaint against someone when she should have said to the complainer: 'Have you tried to deal with it yourself? What was the response? Why are you bothering me, given that it was a misunderstanding and that the person explained - not that she should have needed to because this is a mainstream text - and offered to cover the offending cover?'

Now go away, I'm busy with reports playing candy crush

hmm. if it was a man reading a porn mag, would they have been right to complain? the title 'porno' might have put those thoughts in their heads.
definitely get her a kindle as suggested upthread. its no-one's business what novels she reads.
i read irvine welsh because my daughter was a fan. i preferred the jean genet i read in my youth, especially our lady of the flowers, funeral rites and querelle of brest - you could recommend those.

Maybe get a copy of the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

A perfectly fine book to own (though I'm told very dull) but the co-workers will likely be furious.

The only book I've ever read on public transport that got a reaction was "Loyalists: Defenders or Criminals?" complete with a cover picture of the UVF parading in the Long Kesh, all berets and 70s moustaches. No idea why, but the sight of little old me reading that (about 13 years ago now) got people quite perturbed.

Joven - it's hardly 'up to the minute' the book's been out for something like a decade.

The point I was making was about your suggestion that it was 'unprofessional' to read Irvine Walsh. You might equally say it is 'unprofessional' to be so ignorant that you (the complainants, not you personally) confuse a well-reviewed book by a significant-ish author with something designed to get your rocks off.

Someone who complains about something really should find out what they hell they are complaining about. Jumping to conclusions IS definitely unprofessional. Unless you are highly trained and experienced and your job involves fast reactions, in which case you probably have more important things on your mind than a colleague's lunchtime reading matter.

I like James Kelman; in fact, I am a big fan of Scottish literary fiction generally.

Porno is a good book - I'd have his the sex doll cover at work though (but that's because I'm in a squeaky clean job)
There's far more in life to get offended by than that - she should just shrug it off and chalk it off to life experience.

Hid!

scone have you read Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington?

That and Lanark are my favourite pieces of Scot Lit.

Pff, what nonsense! She should be able to read whatever she wants! If someone feels it's offensive to their religion, she could say she feels offended by the bible/koran/whatnot and that any praying makes her very umcomfortable.

Her employers need to get a grip!

Compos No, I have not read Swing Hammer Swing, but just bought it for my kindle. Thanks for the recommendation.

Hope you enjoy it scone. I will feel rotten if you don't!

Get her a copy of The God Delusion.

As Stephen Fry said:
“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."

Exactly that ^. These people are choosing^ to be offended by this. Your dd has done nothing wrong.

Stephen Fry is, on some occasions, a twat. The world would be a shittier place if we all went about saying "fuck you" to people and not trying to get along. Is it whining to complain about page 3? Is it whining to complain about the men's magazine covers?

The DD has done nothing wrong, the offer of a cover should have been perfectly acceptable and it would have been nice if the women had spoken to her rather than the managers. Perhaps they were worried she has the same opinion and manners as Stephen Fry.

I love to read, but I really really would not take a book with a cover like that to work and read it somewhere where the cover was on full view to people who might find it offensive. I'm not particularly prudish (and I enjoyed Trainspotting) but I find that cover disturbing, in the same way that I find sex dolls disturbing. I'd not expect to see one at work for example.

I don't think it was particularly wrong for the women who did find the cover offensive to ask their manager to say something, they might have been worried about confrontation and thought the manager would be able to sort the issue out without making a big deal about it, or they might have thought the dd wouldn't react very well. Who knows.

I think the manager handled it badly, it would have been easy enough just to tell the dd to be a bit more discrete, or not to read the book at work (not a really particularly big deal surely?). It didn't need to be managed as a complaint, and it was unhelpful to tell her who had complained and why, a simple that book is not terribly appropriate I don't want to see the cover again would have done the job.

The content of the book in this case is fairly irrelevant.

I'd enlarge the front cover to A3 size on the colour photocopier and stick it on the notice board. Then they would have something to be offended about.

Unbelievable what people do to shit stir make trouble for colleagues at work. And use religion to validate.

Glad I work in an office with reasonably sensible people!

The person who screwed up here is the manager. Yes, I reckon that anyone has the right to eat their lunch without a picture of a sex doll in front of them. And they also have a perfect right to go directly to the manager of something upsets them rather than talking to the person concerned if they don't want to. And yes, anyone has a right to rad anything they want in their lunch break. These two rights could easily co exist with the judicious use of some brown paper.

Raise a grievance

• Email to HR/line manager clarifying it wasn't pornography.
• Ask HR/line manager to state what is company policy.
• Blank cover on book is a perfectly reasonable compromise.

There will be some blah statement in her contract about behaviour bringing the company into disrepute. I don't think this would be applicable.

Someone raised a complaint (about a book, that although to some may have a tasteless title and front cover), which is not a graphic (pictures) novel.

You wouldn't want this going unchallenged on your work record. Everything on email/writing.

Outrageous, unwarrented censorship.

I think that people should be able to read the KKK Manual and/or THe Best of the Marquis De Sade in their lunchbreaks as long as they do so on a Kindle or with a cover. Employers do not own staff and have no right to police their choice of reading material.

And I agree that your DD should email HR as suggested by CerealMom. THe manager sounds like an officious twat who's happy to use some people's idiot superstitions as an excuse to bully other staff - either that or a wuss who's terrified of 'offending' anyone.

I think you can read what you like and do what you like in YOUR lunch-break so long as it is not on MY property... your (employee) free time, my (employer) premises - which wins.....?

I'm Muslim, I've read Porno, it's crap.

As for the tedious comments on here suggesting books that would really "upset" Muslims (how pleasant), I cannot speak for all of Muslimdom, but my only concern if I saw a co-worker reading such a book, is that they would want to have some sort of discussion at me afterwards, little realising that I have no interests in their thoughts on religion whatsoever.

AngelaDaviesHair - Now that does sound an interesting book, was it any good?