Censoring feminist writings

[MiddleGround]

I came across this petition recently and wondered what readers of the Feminist book club think about it. It would seem that at least 20 feminist books have been subjected to an attempt to censor them from being made available in a womens library in Vancouver:

www.change.org/p/protect-feminist-books-at-vancouver-women-s-library?recruiter=668934470&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive

There's a video here of the event for more info.

I don't think books should be destroyed. Ideas are incredibly important. Discussion is the way forward, not spitting your dummy and having a tantrum.

I realise this is a very old thread, but it has interested me. I hadn't heard of this issue at the time, but I've recently started a project of my own to collect banned books or cancelled authors as a protest against this kind of mindset.

I feel it's important to have physical copies of the books because ebooks can be deleted at any time, and Amazon are happy to try and make physical copies disappear as well to suit certain agendas.

The video linked in this thread is gone, but I have found some articles that list some / all of the books they wanted to ban.

This article describes how women were physically and verbally attacked for trying to enter the library. They also caused damage to the books, stole alcohol, and set off the fire alarm so the women running the library faced a $500 charge.

www.feministcurrent.com/2017/02/07/vancouver-womens-library-opens-amid-anti-feminist-backlash/

From what I could gather, they were objecting to these books:

S.C.U.M. Manifesto by Valerie Solonas - due to a false claim that she used to beat up trans women - one protester ripped down a poster advertising the book and gave this as the reason.

1. Admission Accomplished – Jill Johnston

1. Against Sadomasochism – Robin R. Linden, Darlene R. Pagano, Diana E. Russell, Susan Leigh Star

1. Amazon Odyssey: Collection of Writings – Ti-Grace Atkinson

1. Buddhism after Patriarchy – Rita M. Gross

1. The Female Man – Joana Russ

1. Female Sexual Slavery – Kathleen Barry

1. Feminism Unmodified – Catharine A. Mackinnon

1. First Buddhist Women: Poems and Stories of Awakening Susan Murcott

1. Gyn/Ecology – Mary Daly

10. The Idea of Prostitution – Sheila Jeffreys

11. The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade – Sheila Jeffreys

12. Intercourse – Andrea Dworkin

13. The Lesbian Heresy – Sheila Jeffreys

14. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women – Geraldine Brooks

15. Not a Choice, Not a Job: Exposing the Myths about Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade – Janice Raymond

16. Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography-Of Women Born – Adrienne Rich

17. Pornography: Men Possessing Women – Andrea Dworkin

18. Radical Acceptance – Tara Brach

19. The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism – Janice Raymond

20. Women As Wombs: Reproductive Technologies and the Battle over Women’s Freedom – Janice Raymond

I'm pleased to find I already own one or two of these books, and I will be trying to buy the others for my project, and printing off some of the articles about it to keep with them.