Pabbis.com loves a good book. And by "good book" I mean books they deem are morally good for children. And by "children" they mean anyone you may have given birth to, no matter how old they are. Otherwise, if the book doesn't meet their random criteria, they'd just prefer to see it banned. So, I guess we can assume they're not a free-love hippy kind of group. Just a hunch.
Pabbis stands for "Parents Against Bad Books In Schools." They don't want you to get the wrong idea, though. Their website says up-front, "Bad is not for us to determine." Well, thank god the name of their organization isn't confusing about that or anything. No, no. "Bad" is for you to determine, they say. They tell you this after they mention a hundred times why any given book is "bad," of course. That's just to keep you on your toes.
Some issues they're concerned with seem respectable enough, such as age appropriate books for certain grades, or asking what the educational goals of a book are. Seems harmless enough. But Pabbis doesn't stop there. They then demand to know whether a book meets "good taste" requirements, or whether there are equivalent books available without "bad content." Obviously, nothing could ever be mistaken using that sort of pinpoint criteria. Everyone in this country always agrees on everything after all.
If you're not too quick on the uptake, you might not have have noticed we're a blog to an English Department, so books are sort of our life. So, consider this a start to a long examination of all things "banned" in the world of literature. We'll focus on Pabbis.com--or any group--and see what's irking these people. Pabbis is fantastic if only because they break down what they deem are the offending passages of any given book, as well as offers a lovely spreadsheet of 1350 books (1350? Pssh, slackers) that have some banned connection they want you to keep an eye out for.
This spreadsheet allows me to know that local boy, Robert Cormier, must have been doing something right. He has 13 titles listed on the spreadsheet. ((High five!!)) Also, books I always associate with scum and villainy show up. E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" appears on the list. Let's face it--we always knew that little spider meant nothing but trouble. And Wilbur the pig? Just a hedonistic punk out for attention. A couple of Shel Silverstein's books make an appearance, too. All those fancy drawings and snappy poetry are rotting children's minds with imagination. Creativity is the seed of Satan after all, and we can't have that.
Of course, some books come out of left field. Charles Silverstein's (unrelated to Shel, I think) "The New Joy of Gay Sex" is listed. I didn't know there was an "old joy," so this must be a sequel. Mavis Jukes's "It's a Girl Thing: How To Stay Healthy, Safe and in Charge," is/was once banned in Texas supposedly. And you can see why. The Amazon.com review explains that the book tells young girls about tampons, periods, and how to handle sexual abuse. It goes without saying that if there's anything the public wants, it's to make sure young girls always feel shame over those issues and pretend none of them happen. Then we have Michael Thomas Ford's "100 Questions and Answers about AIDS." Educating people about AIDS?? That's just crazy talk. No one wants to hear anything about AIDS unless Magic Johnson is the one talking about it.
Pabbis is only looking out for us. They--and the parents who run it--clearly know good taste when they see it. Good thing, too, because I've been filling my brain with the likes of Steinbeck, Shakespeare, and Hemingway (all of whom make an appearance somewhere on the site), and we all know my brain is a den of villainy.
I just wish they'd crack down on ABC books. "A is apple," the books say? Hmm. I don't know what kind of message that's sending to children. Do any of us really know if vitamins can be trusted?
No comments:
Post a Comment