timepiececlock (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timepiececlock) wrote2003-03-18 03:46 pm
timepiececlock) wrote2003-03-18 03:46 pm
books and censors and secularism
Ok, this cracks my shit up:
I have to write a paper for my english class, and the subject I chose was cenorship in American school textbooks.
I've aquired three of the only four books on this topic in my campus library, and spent a while looking over them while I waited in line and walked to my car.
What amuses me so much is that one of the books is so old (1967) as to barely be applicable to current education system, and the other two books are written by conservative right-wingers whose chief complaint seems to be that God, religionm, traditional portrayals of male & female roles are being cut out of books, in favor of secularism, feminism, atheism, and liberal/Democratic views.
Since all those latter ideas are my prerred opinions, this cracks me up.
One of the books (the most recent of 1983--I'm going to ahve to do more finding of material, for sure), when listing the things ommitted from or wrongly portrayed in textbooks examined, stated this as an example of the problem:
"
-Agressive feminist themes were prominent in many of the texts."
...
...
::snert::
That pretty much killed my ability to take that book seriously. The other very conservative-minded book was better, and though there's a outright slant in the writng as to whether certain cenorships match up with "good Christian values for America" (again, actual quote), it neverhteless has a lot of information about popular literature that has been banned and various cases over the whole country. At least this one I'll be able to use for facts (though not for opinions, as both of these books refer to secualrism as "anti-God" and more.)
I have to write a paper for my english class, and the subject I chose was cenorship in American school textbooks.
I've aquired three of the only four books on this topic in my campus library, and spent a while looking over them while I waited in line and walked to my car.
What amuses me so much is that one of the books is so old (1967) as to barely be applicable to current education system, and the other two books are written by conservative right-wingers whose chief complaint seems to be that God, religionm, traditional portrayals of male & female roles are being cut out of books, in favor of secularism, feminism, atheism, and liberal/Democratic views.
Since all those latter ideas are my prerred opinions, this cracks me up.
One of the books (the most recent of 1983--I'm going to ahve to do more finding of material, for sure), when listing the things ommitted from or wrongly portrayed in textbooks examined, stated this as an example of the problem:
"
-Agressive feminist themes were prominent in many of the texts."
...
...
::snert::
That pretty much killed my ability to take that book seriously. The other very conservative-minded book was better, and though there's a outright slant in the writng as to whether certain cenorships match up with "good Christian values for America" (again, actual quote), it neverhteless has a lot of information about popular literature that has been banned and various cases over the whole country. At least this one I'll be able to use for facts (though not for opinions, as both of these books refer to secualrism as "anti-God" and more.)
Re: Agh... I have this thing about history textbooks!
...there was kind of a Spike 'Vampire. Evil.' effect...
Definitely. I think anyone in bookstores or libraries probably has to love books to be there in the first place, and pretty much any booklover, no matter what their politics, is for freedom of speech. It's a thing you get from reading constantly. Maybe it's morals/values... or maybe it's just a deep-seated fear that if they burn the books you'll run out of things to read before you go to bed. Either way, freedom of information is the key. :)
Re: Agh... I have this thing about history textbooks!
I like that! Yeah, I don't know what I'd do if I ran out of books to read before I went to bed. On a censorship note, I just read an interesting book for my YA lit class The Last Safe Place on Earth by Richard Peck which deals with censorship and it was pretty interesting. And of course there's the classic Farenheit 451...
Re: Agh... I have this thing about history textbooks!