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New York, 4:53 AM
Sun Nov 8
22 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #bannedbooks more →

    Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of maybeimamazed02 maybeimamazed02
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    UGH.

    When I was a curious child, my mom kept an eye on what I read. Guess what? She also loved Maya Angelou and we had all her books. Including this one.

    We also read parts of it in my teeny tiny Catholic school--which (oddly) had a very progressive English department. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    maybeimamazed02 was starred maybeimamazed02 was unstarred
    Image of Abra Abra
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    John Briscoe's pet campaign is to have "In God We Trust" posted in schools. He also once set up a website nearly identical to that of the school board he works on, filled not with district policies, with his own and ideas. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    Abra was starred Abra was unstarred
    Image of thesciencegirl thesciencegirl
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    I picked up this book at Borders last week, and decided that I really wanted to read it finally (haven't yet -- but I will soon). It was on my 9th grade curriculum, but had been banned before I had a chance to read it. Because apparently 14 and 15 year-olds are too young to read about rape. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    thesciencegirl was starred thesciencegirl was unstarred
    Image of The Queen of No The Queen of No
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Blah, double post. Sorry.
     Reply
    Edited by The Queen of No at 10/20/09 4:32 PM The Queen of No was starred The Queen of No was unstarred
    Image of The Queen of No The Queen of No
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    My hometown. Sigh. How disappointing. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    The Queen of No was starred The Queen of No was unstarred
    Image of Abra Abra
    10/20/09

    @The Queen of No: Me too. Turns out that I know both of the council members responsible for this, and I'm honestly not surprised.

    HB has always been pretty conservative, but these two are in a crazy class by themselves. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    Abra was starred Abra was unstarred
    Image of TheCatlady TheCatlady
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Now that I've read the rape scene I don't see anything that would make this a candidate for banning. Here is a link that has several sections of the book that some find "objectionable."
    [www.croftononline.com] #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    Jenloveshercurves promoted this comment TheCatlady was starred TheCatlady was unstarred
    Image of meg9 meg9
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    The book wasn't intended for 12 year olds--- with that said, a graphic description of sexual assault is as real and as disturbing as an 'approved' display of violence in a book like Les Miserables---and is not as graphic as the CSI shows that many high schoolers watch anyway. The sexual molestation is covered in two or three graphic sections, a total of 4 pages tops in the entire book.
    I read these books from 14 - 18, and as sexual assault victim (raped from 10 to 11), and a black girl, I was stunned and so happy to find someone who was really speaking to me and to my experience.
    I can imagine that Angelou may have considered softening the details around the assault, but if she'd done that, her years of silence (ended through her love of language and reading) would not have had the same impact, because the audience wouldn't have understood the trauma that forced her silent in the first place. That silence and overcoming it is the main theme of the book, and the rape HAS to be there in order to explain it. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    jenrobe promoted this comment meg9 was starred meg9 was unstarred
    Image of jenrobe jenrobe
    10/21/09

    @meg9: It's an extension of the whole "rape is shameful, we musn't talk about it" school of thought, isn't it? I can't imagine what it must be like to be, say, a 14-year-old girl who has been raped and to be told, oh, this is not suitable for you to read. And you should be quiet now, too. It wouldn't have happened to you if you were a good girl, anyway. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    jenrobe was starred jenrobe was unstarred
    Image of o-line o-line
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Wow. I was a student of the Ocean View School District for a few years. And based on the fact that no one has ever checked out the book from the library, it seems as if it hasn't changed much since I was in elementary school. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    o-line was starred o-line was unstarred
    Image of mama_t mama_t
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Holy crap. I went to school in this district, and this book was on the reading list for U.S. Lit. So I have no idea when they lost their damn minds. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    SomeAuthorGirl promoted this comment mama_t was starred mama_t was unstarred
    Image of lilbobbytables lilbobbytables
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    This book was banned at my high school. I was livid. And confused. I am still confused - how did denying her story help students at my school? We know terrible things happen, is it right to teach us that they should be ignored?

    I just don't get it. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    lilbobbytables was starred lilbobbytables was unstarred
    Image of Red-headed bookworm Red-headed bookworm
    10/20/09

    @lilbobbytables is a la-di-da feminist: My senior year English teacher recommended it to me, and loaned me it to read. She was a fantastic teacher. The more I read stories like this, the more I'm grateful to have gone to schools where they didn't ban books and encouraged us to read. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    Red-headed bookworm was starred Red-headed bookworm was unstarred
    Image of nolongerinacubiclestillawhore nolongerinacubiclestillawhore
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Unfortunately it seems to be gaining traction (link) The book had never even been checked out. I find that part even sadder. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    nolongerinacubiclestillawhore was starred nolongerinacubiclestillawhore was unstarred
    Image of sybann sybann
    10/20/09

    @nolongerinacubiclestillawhore: It will be NOW. Nothing like banning a book to get kids and others curious. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    sybann was starred sybann was unstarred
    Image of funnyface funnyface
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Aw, they JUST missed banned books week, too.

    I read IKWTCBS in the 7th grade for a report, and promptly read it about 4 times in a row. Excellent book. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    funnyface was starred funnyface was unstarred
    Image of samethingwedoeverynightpinky samethingwedoeverynightpinky
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    I had a well intentioned high school English teacher tell me that the county really wanted to assign more books by black women, but all of the classic books by black women they could potentially assign had a graphic rape scene. Aside from the fact that that's not really true and the people making the list couldn't have been looking that hard, wouldn't the fact that rape was such a prevalant theme in black women's work mean it was worth talking about? #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    samethingwedoeverynightpinky was starred samethingwedoeverynightpinky was unstarred
    Image of maydaystudio maydaystudio
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    So Maya Angelou is out, but Twilight is okay? #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    BeckySharper promoted this comment maydaystudio was starred maydaystudio was unstarred
    Image of BeckySharper BeckySharper
    10/20/09

    @maydaystudio: Oh come on. No one rapes a 8 year old in Twilight. At least, not the version I read. Bad comparison. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    BeckySharper was starred BeckySharper was unstarred
    Image of KiddyKat KiddyKat
    10/20/09

    @BeckySharper: But Twilight does murder your intellect. Pretty graphically, too. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    BeckySharper promoted this comment KiddyKat was starred KiddyKat was unstarred
    Image of BeckySharper BeckySharper
    10/20/09

    @KiddyKat: Meh. It's a hell of a lot better than some of what I read in high school. In 9th grade we read Clan of the Cave Bear, which is hardly elevated literature and has a very violent, graphic rape scene. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    BeckySharper was starred BeckySharper was unstarred
    Image of maydaystudio maydaystudio
    10/20/09

    @BeckySharper: I wasn't meaning to compare the rape scene, so I guess my comment was slightly off topic. I am objecting to the literary, historical, and socio-economic idiocy of the Twilight series in general--and the obvious relevance and educational value of Angelou's entire oeuvre.

    Thank you for making me be more specific. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    maydaystudio was starred maydaystudio was unstarred
    Image of mbprice mbprice
    10/20/09

    In reply to Censors Try To Silence Caged Bird
    Have these people ever read the Bible? There's this vindictive magician that wipes out entire countries, sometimes whole continents full of people and living things, basically on a whim, and he's the protagonist! #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    mbprice was starred mbprice was unstarred
    Image of funnyface funnyface
    10/20/09

    @mbprice: Not to mention, plenty of rape. And incest.

    Hilariously I just finished a reception history of Aphra Behn's late 1600s play "The Rover." In the 1800s, everyone was flipping out about how immodest and lewd the play was, and there was one ahead-of-his-time guy who was like, yeah, but if we held the Bible to these standards, we wouldn't be allowed to read it either, and noted that it was more "indecent" than Shakespeare and Behn. #iknowwhythecagedbirdsings
     Reply
    funnyface was starred funnyface was unstarred
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