{"id":193,"date":"2011-02-06T07:40:11","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T12:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?post_type=worldedu_posts&#038;p=11923"},"modified":"2016-07-01T17:48:20","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T21:48:20","slug":"banned-book-awareness-featured-article-february-6-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/2011\/02\/06\/banned-book-awareness-featured-article-february-6-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned Books Awareness: The Twilight Saga"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at least 46 of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.modernlibrary.com\/top-100\/radcliffes-rival-100-best-novels-list\/\" target=\"_blank\">Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century<\/a> have been the target of ban attempts.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past decade, American libraries were faced with 4400 challenges.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1,413 challenges due to \u201csexually explicit\u201d material;<\/li>\n<li>1,125 challenges due to \u201coffensive language\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>897 challenges due to material deemed \u201cunsuited to age group\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>514 challenges due to \u201cviolence\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>344 challenges due to \u201chomosexuality\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>109 materials were challenged because they were \u201canti-family,\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And an additional 269 were challenged because of their \u201creligious viewpoints.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>1,502 of these challenges (approximately 34%) were in classrooms; 33%  were in school libraries; 23% (or 1,032) took place in public  libraries.\u00a0 There were 100 challenges to college classes; and only 29 to  academic libraries.\u00a0 The majority of challenges were initiated by  parents (almost exactly 48%), while patrons and administrators followed  behind (10% each).<\/p>\n<p>These are surprising statistics for a nation that claims to be proud  of its freedoms, and purportedly stand behind the men and women who  defend those freedoms here and around the world.<\/p>\n<p>The Triple Threat of censorship actions is sex, violence, and the  occult.\u00a0 If a book has just one of these themes it\u2019s marked; some push  the envelope and contain all three.<\/p>\n<p>Young Adult books were seen for years as safe and harmless.\u00a0 Books  with a little bit more substance than Curious George and Clifford the  Big Red Dog aimed to entertain the intellectual evolution of children  who were growing up.\u00a0 But society also continued to evolve.<\/p>\n<p>Objections to Young Adult books are more prevalent in recent years due to the popularity of series such as <em>Harry Potter<\/em> and <em>Twilight<\/em>.\u00a0  Most Young Adult novels are typical \u201ccoming-of-age\u201d tales that includes  sexual awakening and autonomy as key parts of the narrative; of finding  one\u2019s self and independent thought.\u00a0 Some feature openly gay  characters; and, of, course, that timeless big threat- the occult.\u00a0 The  most challenged book series of this decade is <em>Harry Potter<\/em>.\u00a0 I guess some people didn\u2019t get the memo that the Spanish Inquisition is over.<\/p>\n<p>Young witches and wizards aside, sexuality pushes the most buttons  when it comes to censorship targets.\u00a0 Americans have an almost split  personality when it comes to sexuality.\u00a0 \u00a0The most popular movies and  television shows have used sex and violence in pursuit of higher  ratings; and the biggest commercial use of any new technology is the  porn industry.\u00a0 But, SHHHHH!\u00a0 That\u2019s only behind closed doors.\u00a0 Yet, if  you try to talk about sex or have serious discussions on the topic  people get embarrassed and shy.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 We all do it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not human  nature, it\u2019s just nature.<\/p>\n<p>Writers and readers alike need to deal with these concepts equally.\u00a0  Pretending such issues aren\u2019t on the minds and in the lives of teens is  not only naive, it\u2019s irresponsible.\u00a0 Sexuality, and attempts to control  it (often through violence), have always been pivotal in structuring  societies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite what many have been led to believe, it wasn\u2019t the Puritans  who instilled our perceptions of sexuality.\u00a0 It\u2019s really been around  since the 19th century.\u00a0 Over in England it was the Victorian Era; a  time synonymous with sexual taboos.\u00a0 In the United States it was mostly  due to the efforts of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/amex\/pill\/peopleevents\/e_comstock.html\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Comstock<\/a>.\u00a0  Born in rural Connecticut in 1844, Comstock moved to New York City  after serving in the Civil War.\u00a0 A devout Christian, he was appalled by  what he saw in the city&#8217;s streets. \u00a0To him, the town was teeming with  prostitutes and pornography.\u00a0 He began supplying the police with  information for raids on sex trade merchants and earned a reputation  with his anti-obscenity crusade.\u00a0 In 1872 Comstock set sights on  Washington and in March, 1873, Congress passed the Comstock Act. \u00a0The  statute defined contraceptives as obscene and illicit, making it a  federal offense to disseminate birth control through the mail or across  state lines.<\/p>\n<p>Here in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> Century, those 19<sup>th<\/sup> Century  ideals are rooted deeply.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that in the United States  the popular consensus is the more violence, the better.\u00a0 We\u2019re more  worried about teens encountering sex in books and movies than we are  with them seeing characters blown into many bloody pieces because war is  glorified; but over in Europe they\u2019re more worried about kids seeing  too much violence, and couldn\u2019t care less about sex.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deepforestproductions.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Twilight.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Twilight\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deepforestproductions.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Twilight-186x300.jpg?resize=271%2C396\" alt=\"\" width=\"271\" height=\"396\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>The <\/em><em>Twilight<\/em> series by Stephenie Meyer has been on  the hot list of banned books for being sexually explicit, unsuited to  age group, and promoting a religious viewpoint according to the ALA.\u00a0  Five years after its debut, the series made it on to the group\u2019s banned  book list in 2010, ranking 5<sup>th<\/sup> among total complaints.<\/p>\n<p>Seems a little odd when you take into account that Meyer was brought  up as a Mormon and abstinence is a major theme of the books.\u00a0 The  &#8220;Twilight&#8221; series centers on a premise as familiar as the tale of &#8220;Romeo  and Juliet:&#8221; Two teens with different backgrounds, who, for all  accounts should not be together, fall in love.\u00a0 Make one the new girl in  school (themes of alienation and isolation) and the other a vampire  (girls do love the bad boy), add exploratory thoughts about death and  sexual desire, tons of adjectives and adverbs and you have a teen  sensation.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2008, the &#8220;Twilight&#8221; books were temporarily removed from and later returned to middle-school libraries in the <a href=\"http:\/\/us.rd.yahoo.com\/dailynews\/ac\/en_ac\/storytext\/6833034_banned_books_week_the_twilight_series\/37693452\/SIG=120tuveu1\/*http:\/www.ocregister.com\/news\/books-194237-school-series.html\" target=\"_blank\">Capistrano Unified School District<\/a> in California. It was the district&#8217;s instructional materials specialist who initially &#8220;ordered&#8221; the books removed.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2009, the series was challenged at <a href=\"http:\/\/us.rd.yahoo.com\/dailynews\/ac\/en_ac\/storytext\/6833034_banned_books_week_the_twilight_series\/37693452\/SIG=13e3vnt52\/*http:\/www.ala.org\/ala\/issuesadvocacy\/banned\/bannedbooksweek\/ideasandresources\/free_downloads\/2009banned.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Brockbank Junior High<\/a> in Magna, Utah. A parent complained about the &#8220;overly sexual content&#8221;  in the novel &#8220;Breaking Dawn,&#8221; which is part of the series.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2009, &#8220;Twilight&#8221; was banned from the library at Santa  Sabina College Strathfield in Australia for being &#8220;too racy,&#8221; according  to <a href=\"http:\/\/us.rd.yahoo.com\/dailynews\/ac\/en_ac\/storytext\/6833034_banned_books_week_the_twilight_series\/37693452\/SIG=12agh2vvi\/*http:\/www.lisnews.org\/twilight_banned_australian_school_deemed_too_racy\" target=\"_blank\">Library and Information Science News<\/a>.  The &#8220;Twilight&#8221; series was removed from &#8220;schools because they believe  the content is too sexual and goes against religious beliefs,&#8221; according  to Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom in November 2009.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Twilight&#8221; series has achieved popular, financial and critical success. The first book in the series hit <a href=\"http:\/\/us.rd.yahoo.com\/dailynews\/ac\/en_ac\/storytext\/6833034_banned_books_week_the_twilight_series\/37693452\/SIG=11glvpd0j\/*http:\/www.nytimes.com\/pages\/books\/bestseller\/\"><em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a> Best Seller list within a month of being released.<\/p>\n<p>The first book in the series has sold 17 million copies worldwide and earned a number of awards, including <em>The New York Times<\/em> Editor&#8217;s choice.<\/p>\n<p>Other lists include Best Children&#8217;s Books of 2005 and &#8220;Best Book of  the Year&#8221; by Publisher&#8217;s Weekly, Best Books of 2005 by School Library  Journal, The Top Books of 2008 from <em>USA Today, <\/em><em>and <\/em>&#8220;New Moon&#8221; (2006) received the Young Reader&#8217;s Choice Award in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Eclipse&#8221; has sold more than 4.5 millions copies and &#8220;Breaking Dawn&#8221;  (2008) broke a first-day sales record, selling 1.3 million copies in its  first day, according to Hachette Book Group USA.<\/p>\n<p>* to read the previous discussion thread visit my original posting of this article on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=10150127535665141&amp;set=a.470966885140.252205.565765140\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook <\/a>*<\/p>\n<p><em>Sources: The Improper, American Library Association, Yahoo News<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2011 R. Wolf Baldassarro\/Deep Forest Productions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>According to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at least 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century have been the target of ban attempts. Over the past decade, American libraries were faced with 4400 challenges. 1,413 challenges due to \u201csexually explicit\u201d material; 1,125 challenges due <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/2011\/02\/06\/banned-book-awareness-featured-article-february-6-2011\/\" title=\"Banned Books Awareness: The Twilight Saga\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[377,378,379,2],"tags":[448],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-banned-books","category-banned-books-awareness-and-reading-for-knowledge","category-censorship","category-social-change","tag-twilight"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1168,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions\/1168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbark.deepforestproductions.com\/column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}