Coercive Control and Book Banning
People who want to sever our connections
Hello Friends! I’m writing this in advance since I’ll be out and about this weekend in the Inland Empire. The Inlandia Institute is having an event at the Maloof Historic Home1 and I want to go. Ellen Estali, author of Exit Prohibited will be speaking. (I reviewed Exit Prohibited here.) Afterward, I get to meet up with some writer friends, and then book club friends, and then visit the botanic garden with more friends. Yeah, I’ve been missing a lot of people and I need some connection.
I’m not one to brag, but I think I won the most rejections for the month of May in my 100 Rejections Club with six rejections! 😉BTW—
has a Substack that you should join for some TLC while in the submissions/querying trenches.The “I-Thou” we want and the “I-It” that’s offered
I wanted to write this week about the irony of coercive control in religious institutions/cults and how it prevents the I-Thou relation with the ultimate Thou (God). I’ve been thinking of book challenges/removals/bans as a way to prevent people from having a human to human I-Thou relationship (subject to subject). If we take away books that engender empathy for others, we encourage relating to them in an I-It way.
But I realized I haven’t woven the threads together yet and may not get there without dedicating the time to follow up this train of thought with study.
Books on Coercive Control
I’m always interested in spiritual coercive control, so a few years ago, I was following
on Instagram. She escaped an abusive marriage to a Christian Fundamentalist. On her website, she describes herself as “an author exploring anti-fundamentalism after church-sanctioned domestic abuse in high-control religion.”I think I found her through the Writers’ Bridge. I stepped away from IG for the most part because it makes me crazy and depressed. I’ve lost track of everyone I was following there. Then, a few weeks ago, I was looking at some ARCs offered on NetGalley. A bit of a coincidence since I don’t look for ARCs much these days as I am no longer in the library. But on the one day this year that I did, I saw that Levings’ memoir A Well-Trained Wife was offered. I got it.
I’ve just begun reading A Well-Trained Wife, but I’m invested. I loved that Levings says this: “When your cup runneth over, sometimes it’s not with blessing. Sometimes your cup’s full of crap.” She shows how her church and its leaders sanctioned her suffering. her book will launch in August.
In my upcoming YA novel about a girl escaping a polygamist cult, I show that manipulative spiritual leaders steal people’s faith. To see if someone is doing that, a good question to ask oneself is: do they sanction suffering?
In case you missed my newsletter last week, here’s another reminder from PEN and major children’s/YA writers on why these sorts of topics are appropriate for young people’s books.
The regulations’ explicit prohibition on “sexual conduct” is vague and broad, meaning books with sexual references are likely to be banned without considerations of context, purpose, or educational value. Experts on sexual violence have repeatedly reported that learning about the signs of abuse and what consent means helps young people to speak up in harmful situations, reach out for help, or recognize abuse they have experienced.
Speaking of controlling others
A good way to control women is to limit access to birth control. I’m worried about this. Here’s a gift article from the Washington Post, FYI:
Conservative attacks on birth control could threaten access
Since I’ve been thinking about this, I figured I’d take a leap and write about my youthful experience in birth control mistakes. The HuffPost is going to publish that essay in eight days.
While we wait for my essay to arrive 😉, here’s one from HuffPost that speaks to my cult-control theme. It’s about the Unification Church, Reverend Moon, and a ‘Moonie’ marriage. It quickly shows how people end up under the control of a cult. For someone in a cult, there’s a lot of pressure from loved ones that make it very difficult to walk off, even if they are starting to doubt the leaders or don’t believe anything at all that leaders say.
I Agreed To An Arranged Marriage With A Stranger. It Turned My Life Upside Down.
One does not have to be raised as I was to experience coercive control, which is “defined as a pattern of behaviors that enables someone to exert power over another person through fear and control.” The dynamics I experienced in the Unification Church are present in many other churches, political groups, workplaces and relationships. With the 2015 Serious Crime Act, the U.K. has begun to legislate against coercive control within intimate relationships, but there are no such federal laws within the U.S., and not all state bills offer equal protections or any protections outside of the domestic sphere.
Library and book challenge news
As always, this is not all of the week’s book challenge news, but, rather, news I found important.
TIME magazine’s article “Why This Florida Mom Sued the Board of Education Over Book Bans.”
One of the books that was being removed from Florida classrooms and that you were trying to un-ban was Shut Up! by Marilyn Reynolds. … Why did this particular book stand out to you? And why did you want this specific review of this book?
The overall reason for my concern was not specifically about the book, but just the process itself. I want a process that allows thoughtful discussion. We have that in our policy in Orange County— it didn't happen. And if I think if it had happened, the book would have been retained because the initial objection was its use in curriculum, and not actually questioning whether or not it should be in the library.
This particular book covers sexual assault of a minor, which is a difficult topic, but it's written from the perspective of the older brother who goes through a lot of grief and anguish over not being able to assist, and realize what was happening, to his brother earlier.
I think it's really important that the book presents situations that students might not realize [are bad], and grooming situations with what [students might] think is a trusted adult. Because it's written from a teenager's perspective, somebody in that situation would use the language that [the author] used, and probably go through a lot of the feelings and emotions that are in that book.
The US librarian who sued book ban harassers: ‘I decided to fight back’
After Amanda Jones got death threats for speaking out against censorship, she sued her attackers and wrote a memoir
Censored stories: popular page-turners that were banned
The books highlighted in the article were all featured in the Library of Congress' exhibit 'Books that Shaped America,' and have all been banned, challenged, or censored.
Public libraries establish themselves as book sanctuaries to counter bans
Book sanctuaries are dedicated to making challenged books broadly accessible, hosting book talks and other events that feature diverse voices from communities that are often restricted (such as authors who are LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and people of color), and educating others on the history of book bans. They can be created by anyone and can exist anywhere, physically or digitally.
Proposal Could Lead to the Banning of Literary Classics and Acclaimed Contemporary Books
The letter argues that the proposed regulations threaten free expression, the freedom to read, and the First Amendment, noting that librarians and educators are already “well placed” to curate library collections with appropriate books and materials.
Florida revises school library book removal training following public outcry
Florida is moving forward with a revised training program for local public school officials in charge of policing library and classroom bookshelves, including changes to language that free speech advocates said misrepresented state law and led to unnecessary book removals.
Book bans have become a powerful censorship tool in Colorado. Libraries and patrons hold the line.
Back in the day, at Douglas County, somebody would fill out a form. “I'm upset about this. I read the book and here's what I object to, and here's what I think you should get instead.” Now, what happens is 15 to 20 people show up unannounced at a public comment session at a school board or a public board meeting, and they have 25 or 30 books that they want to get rid of all at once.
And their tactic is, “I'm going to find the naughtiest bit in this book, and I'm going to read it out loud to make everybody squirm and say how uncomfortable they are, and then say, ‘I demand that you remove this.’” And if they don't, then immediately it's political threats. “You're on the school board — you should be recalled. You're a superintendent, principal — you should be fired.”
You're a librarian and what we're seeing now is legislation across the country to say not only criminalize the book, but criminalize the people who provide access to them.
Texas Library Must Reshelve Controversial Books, 5th Cir. Says
The books include “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent” by Isabel Wilkerson; “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings; books related to sex education and bodily functions including “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris; and a series of children’s books that make jokes about flatulence.
US Appeals Court Orders Return of Books to Texas Public Library
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed Thursday a District Court’s ruling to return books to a Texas public library after they were removed because of their viewpoint and content. This was a partial victory for the plaintiffs, as eight of the 17 banned books are to be returned to shelves.
Lawmakers advance bill to limit book bans, give librarians more protections
After hours of testimony Thursday, an Assembly committee approved a bill to direct local boards of education to adopt policies on curating school library collections and to include standards for curation as well as criteria for the removal of library materials.
The bill, if it becomes law, would also make school librarians immune from criminal or civil liability for acting in good faith to follow the provisions in the bill.
New federal lawsuit says state of Florida discriminates against book ban-opposed parents
One of the plaintiffs is the co-founder and director of research and insight for the Florida Freedom to Read Project, one of Florida's most-outspoken book access organizations.
John Green, Toni Morrison, Jodi Picoult, Colleen Hoover among most banned authors in Iowa
Congrats on Huff Post!! People need to get a life and stop worrying about anyone who doesn’t act, think or look like they do. Ridiculous. 🙄
Most rejections in May! Winner, winner (metaphorical chicken dinner)!! Rejections RULE.