Central Bucks book ban policy & the meaning of the word behind it.
We are very glad to see (and hope it continues) a shift in Those Who Would Ban Books (TWWBB). While before they made completely manufactured, false, baseless, scurrilous accusations about teachers and librarians, now they have turned their rhetoric to another word.
A P word.
No, not that P word. The word we hear the most from them now is P O R N O G R A P H Y.
Judging by the evidence they present, here is their definition of that word: Anything explicitly sexual.
The real meaning of that word: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.
So much for the dictionary. Now for the legal definition, a.k.a. the Miller test. From Wikipedia:
The Miller test, also called the three-prong obscenity test, is the United States Supreme Court's test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and can be prohibited.
The Miller test was developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California. It has three parts:
Whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards", would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,
Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions[4] specifically defined by applicable state law,
Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
The work is considered obscene only if all three conditions are satisfied.
Important highlights:
Taken as a whole
Appeals to the prurient interest
Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
We will here make a bold assertion: We do not believe there is ANY book in ANY of our school libraries that would fail the Miller test.
Nudity, implied or otherwise, is not pornography, unless it fails the Miller test. Some examples:
Reine Lefebvre Holding a Nude Baby by Mary Cassatt
The Bath by Edgar Degas
The Risen Christ by Michaelangelo
La Danse by Henri Matisse
Depictions of sexual behavior, even if graphic, do not violate the Miller test. Some examples:
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Peter Paul Reubens and Jan Wildens
The Rape of Proserpina by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Abduction by Pablo Picasso
Showing an image or reading a passage fails to define a work of art as the P word. What matters is the intent of the image/work of art taken as a whole.
Does Gender Queer fall under the P banner? It does not. The images it includes are specifically anti-erotic. The author found no pleasure in the acts depicted and the images do not seek to arouse the reader.
Do any of the challenged books fall under the P banner? They do not. Our professional staff chose them to illuminate, to inform, to represent a valid viewpoint, never, ever, ever, to arouse.
But we are well aware, keenly aware, that not all books are appropriate for all kids. Teachers and librarians want kids to find the books that are right for them. Just because these books do not fall under the P banner does not at all mean that every kid should read them.
And by the same reasoning, a tamer, milder book might not appeal at all to a different student. Some kids want to read about sports and some kids are bored to tears by the topic. Some kids want to read about murder mysteries and others want to read about war. Some want to read about sex and gender issues. We need an array of books, some of which will utterly not work for some students.
We have sympathy for any parent who sees an image and says to themself, that is not for my kid. Parents know best what their children are ready for.
What we wish to preserve is students’ rights to choose a book they’re ready for and parents’ rights to guide their own children. We oppose anyone who wants to make decision for families other than their own.
Calling all depictions of nudity or sexual behavior the P word betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of that genre. It betrays a desire to control the world rather than one’s own child’s experience of it.
Especially when considered in light of the fact that our high school kids fall between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, and over half of them have had sex, we must allow materials that tell the whole story to our kids.
And at the same time, we must protect the rights of parents to shield their own young children from content that they judge inappropriate.
Stop calling all explicit materials the P word.
Grant all parents their proper rights.
Foster literacy by offering kids an array of books that can answer all their questions about the world and let them choose their own reading adventure.