Yes. The term “Porn” has been tactically stripped of meaning to facilitate its weaponization against non-dominant groups. Obvious in which books w sexual content are targeted. We can make the critical distinction. Porn as “sexual explicit content for the purposes of arousal”.
Books like GENDER QUEER or OUT OF DARKNESS include sex for other reasons, such as showing the pain of navigating sexuality from a marginalized identity, illustrating that survivors of sexual abuse can reclaim joy in their bodies, and illustrating what consent (and its absence).
And context matters. Porn literally has no context beyond arousal—titillation is the goal start to finish. Sex, when it appears in lit, is an element in a complex whole that must be examined as such, not condemned bc of passages or screenshots out of context.

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More from @ashleyhopeperez

4 Dec
It is emphatically NOT my responsibility, as a sexual abuse survivor, to educate those who falsely label YA lit "grooming" just because it contains sexual content of some kind. But I'm sick of the slimy implications being wiped like snot over our books. So I will spell this out.
"Grooming" is manipulative, predatory behavior, usually of a minor, with the goal of blurring the lines between appropriate and inappropriate touch or interaction. Why? A disoriented, gaslit, self-blaming target is much less likely to be able to identify, or report, abuse.
It is absurd to say that the mere presence of some sexual content means a book is "grooming" readers. Is the sexual content of the Bible "grooming" readers to be gang raped? to sleep with their fathers? Do TV shows with love-making scenes or song that refer to sex "groom"?
Read 8 tweets
4 Dec
When it comes to school book bans, we need a powerful community response that puts students first and backs up teachers and librarians. That response starts with a clear understanding of what is happening. Here's what I see going on as of 12/4/21.
Attacks on youth access to books in schools often use misleading terms like “pornographic,” “inappropriate,” “controversial,” & “divisive” to describe books by or about non-white or non-dominant people, &/or that address experiences such as sexual assault or police brutality.
The scope of these attacks varies from 1 book to TX State Rep Kraus’s bogus interrogation of school districts about whether 850 allegedly problematic books are in their libraries. (Kraus's list is a sloppy combo of keyword searches like "LGBTQ" & "race.")
Read 29 tweets
27 Nov
Enjoying the solo-travel no-kids-to-wrangle spa vibes at DFW airport and feeling a little thread-y, so here goes some thinking...
I've been thinking about the pattern that's emerged in the most recent chapter of conservatives' relentless efforts to undermine public schools. The pattern is painfully clear, but it doesn't make headlines. We need it to make headlines.
Some of the positions conservatives have latched onto:

1. Demand in-person schooling.
2. Oppose pub health measures to make in-person schooling safer (masks, vax).
3. Oppose anything related to diversity & inclusion
4. Oppose teaching of honest & complete history (anti-CRT).
Read 16 tweets
13 Nov
We need to unite behind a clear, forceful message. First: This is not just an attack on books. It's an attack on kids. It's an attack on schools. It's an effort to paint teachers and librarians as "the enemy."
Second: ALL of our kids belong in public schools. ALL of our kids deserve to find themselves in the books they seek out in libraries. ALL of our kids have parents whose "rights" matter, not just white, straight kids.
Third: Students--especially those with the identities represented in the books under attack- have faced unprecedented challenges through the pandemic, and these garbage games from the right are diverting essential school resources from the work of getting kids back on track.
Read 9 tweets
13 Oct
For those following the Leander ISD book bans: removals/decision to keep did not correspond with the review outcome--what is the explanation, @LeanderISD?
Spreadsheets here, bottom right corner: leanderisd.org/communitycurri…

Sample screenshots follow in thread... @jzfriedman
Image
Image
Read 6 tweets
11 Oct
My fantasy parent book content complaint form:

Title:
Did you read it?
Description of the book (in your own words):
One positive theme in the book:
What conversations are possible because of book?
Your primary concern:
How do passages of concern relate to book as a whole?
I think what is key is to frame parental concerns about book contents as the beginning of a conversation, not the end of one.

@r_bittner @AdvInCensorship @ncacensorship
@r_bittner @AdvInCensorship @ncacensorship We can model how to contextualize passages that might seem objectionable; we can offer similar examples from "classic" texts; we can provide resources that help parents see the opportunity to talk to their kids about issues because of the book.
Read 8 tweets

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