THESE LGBTQ AND ANTIRACIST BOOKS ARE BEING REVIEW BOMBED BY BOOK BANNERS

[Jilly_in_VA]

2021 was a banner year for book challenges. Right wing groups organized protests across the country that claimed that porn was in school libraries — with “porn,” of course, being any LGBTQ book. It also brought new legislation and political posturing to “protect” white students from the “discomfort” of learning about racism, including in history. A Texas lawmaker made a list of 850 titles he wanted removed from the state’s school libraries, most of them LGBTQ, and at least one district pulled hundreds of books from the shelves for “review.”

One common response to this increase in censorship attempts is that nothing makes people want to read a book more than it being banned. Also known as the Streisand effect, the idea is that book bans will actually make those book more popular and sell more copies. It’s a comforting thought, but it’s misleading.

For one thing, in a list of 850 titles, no single book is getting a boost in popularity through word of mouth or media coverage: they all blend together. And in a seemingly never-ending wave of book challenges, it’s hard to think any of these titles are getting a lot of traction even if they do get news stories. The more books are challenged, and the more that the frequency makes these stories seem everyday, the less publicity those titles are getting.

More importantly, this effect would only work if people know the book is being banned or challenged. Harder to track is the kind of quiet self-censorship that leads librarians and teachers to leave books off syllabi and shelves because they fear being faced with the wrath of book banners. While the American Library Association and other groups keep track of formal book challenges, these quieter instances are impossible to record, and they can only take books away from readers.

https://bookriot.com/book-banning-review-bombing/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=RR%20Jan%206%2C%202022&utm_term=BookRiot_TheRiotRundown_DormantSuppress

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. As the article suggests

you can go to the Amazon site for each of the books and upvote positive reviews. You can also report abuse for the negative ones. I did. The one-star ones, many of which are poorly spelled and reflect the same views over and over, also tend to reflect a group uncomfortable with their own sexuality, indeed any sexuality, and a denial that teenagers have anything other than tightly controlled heterosexuality which mommy and daddy must have a say over until they are at least 18.

[TheRealNorth]

2. Been awhile since I bought anything on Amazon....

But don't they have to buy the book in order to post a review?

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. Nope

You just have to have an account. And almost everyone has one.

[GoCubsGo]

4. LOl! And, we're supposed to be the "snowflakes."

But, bring up racism, sexuality, sexism, anything related to social justice, etc., and the "discomfort" makes these assholes melt in to a big puddle. I am so fucking sick of these self-righteous, hypocritical lunatics.