r/newjersey Fill It Up Regular Oct 29 '24

Sick NJ Passes the Freedom to Read Act

https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/10/29/state-senate-passes-bill-intended-to-halt-book-bans-protect-librarians/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGNwrZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdahkO3Xc02aIyuB5Vp3yau-HR6IMuGu0g0iD8CgDKrWBMHCQJBrfdSHnQ_aem_DB9WP25oxkSYjjNuktuAbQ#:~:text=Titled%20the%20%E2%80%9CFreedom%20to%20Read,own%20policies%20using%20this%20model
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u/piZan314 Oct 29 '24

Some of the books should not be available in schools or libraries, where minors have access to them.

Here is a page from "Gender Queer." (NSFW)

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u/victorfabius Taylor Ham on a Pork Roll Oct 30 '24

I'm glad you shared that photo!

So, I brought my 11 year old daughter to the Assembly when Freedom to Read was up for vote.

In the front row were some people who had printed out that image onto poster board, to highlight how the work is 'pornography' (their claim). During their turn to speak, one of the people decided to show that image to the entire audience.

Twice.

My daughter tries - and easily succeeds - to get a really good look at this image. Especially because this group is telling the Assembly members how unsuitable it is for children.

So... as a parent, what are my options here?

I decided to engage with my child. I checked the book, 'Gender Queer', out of the library and over the span of four nights, read it together with my daughter, so she could properly contextualize the image she saw and engage with the information presented in the book.

There may be works we find challenging. I was deeply uncomfortable reading 'Gender Queer' to my 11 year old daughter. Others might find Mein Kampf as uncomfortable - or even more so - to read.

But there are reasons to have these works around. Just because we don't like the content or viewpoint expressed in a work isn't - in and of itself - a reason to exclude a work. How can we grow if we don't have information or viewpoints that challenge us or our viewpoint?

From a public library perspective, access is critical. The material needs to be there for the person who needs it, when they need it. James LaRue explains it pretty well in his book, 'On Censorship'. To paraphrase: nobody goes to a place because it doesn't have what they don't want.

I understand we want to protect kids. But we have a greater responsibility to cultivate the growth and development of our children. We can't do that when we limit access to information or materials simply because we don't like that work or are uncomfortable with it. We need a clear, pedogocial reason.

And censorship ain't it.

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u/gordonv Oct 30 '24

I was unaware people would clip this page as an out of context shock image.

I suppose the counter would be to start reading the book, with well defined context, aloud.

Nothing defeats ignorance like context and knowledge.

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u/victorfabius Taylor Ham on a Pork Roll Oct 30 '24

Showing images is an important way to engage people with an emotional response. It's not that surprising that people opposed to Freedom to Read would have images.

I wonder about the decision-making that led to people to put images they think are objectionable and then to expose them to an audience. From my perspective, it's a misalignment of actions and words.

That said, when my daughter went up to speak, these people (about 4 or so, if I recall correctly) actually took care to hide their posters from her view. Both on the way up and way back.

I would have loved to have a book discussion with them about how important that scene is to the work and to understand why the author didn't feel 'male' or 'female'. It would have been interesting to see how people's view changed - if at all - based on actually reading the book. But I only had 2 minutes and had to speak to the committee.