I think so.  That's why I think it's so amazing that the words of one person misinterpreting the message of a thoughtful, well-written book could spark an entire anti-censorship campaign.

Let me explain.  There is a book called SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson that is about a teen girl finding her voice.  Now, I'm going to tell you this because A. it's what the rest of this post is about and B. because I knew this when I read the book and it didn't spoil a darn thing.  SPEAK is about a girl named Melinda who is raped the year before she goes to high school by a boy in her high school.  Traumatized, afraid, not sure how to reach out to her parents and incapable of reaching out to her friends, she silences herself.  She closes down, doesn't speak to people, and suffers silently through the agony of rape and her rapist mentally tormenting her around school.  SPEAK is about Melinda finding her voice and the courage to speak up.

SPEAK is a beautifully written book that had me in tears throughout--not because it was sad, because the humor throughout keeps it from being weighty.  Though I have never been in such a situation, I found myself relating to Melinda and her struggle to find a voice.  I read this book in high school, when I was feeling many of the same things that Melinda feels: social isolation, anxiety, inability to talk with my parents about my issues, shallow and fragile friendships, and the struggle to learn who we are outside of high school.  I would recommend this to anyone who is in high school, recently graduated from high school, or who has a child in high school.  Or even anyone who still struggles to find their voice.

So.  To the broader point.  Today, like most days, I was on Twitter.  I noticed this tweet: "There are so many things wrong with the guy who wants SPEAK pulled because it is "filthy". #SpeakLoudly" by @halseanderson.  I was intrigued.  Filthy? I thought.  I don't remember any cursing... I opened up Laurie Halse Anderson's Twitter page and found a link to her blog.  Being the good reader that I am, I immediately tabbed open her link to the article that discusses SPEAK's ban-worthiness.

There are not enough words in Entish, Elvish or the Tongues of Man to express how flabbergasted and downright disgusted I was by this article. (warning: Lord of the Rings reference!)


Wesley Scroggins, the author of the misinformed article, is an associate professor of management at Missouri State University.  He is a member of Reclaiming Missouri for Christ.  He has submitted a proposal to the superintendent of the local school board to have SPEAK, as well as several other books and curricula, removed from the school.  He is also campaigning to take TWENTY-BOY SUMMER off of the Recommended for School titles.  (I've only read SPEAK, so this will be about SPEAK.)

Now, I will admit.  While I inherently have a problem with censorship, especially of the book variety, so far Mr. Scroggins doesn't upset me very much.  He sounds okay.  Besides, my high school had people try to ban books.  We just read them anyway.  It's pretty normal, actually; I'd be much more concerned if no one tried to ban books.

In fact, I agree with Mr. Scroggins' opening statement: "As another school year begins at Republic Schools, parents need to be cautious and inquire as to the nature of the material that their children may be exposed to."  Of course he's right.  Parents should always monitor their children's activities.   Watch that they're not looking at too many crazy or illegal things on the Internet.  Check that they understand what they're reading, and that their reading doesn't include a murder how-to.  Encourage them not to watch overly sexual or violently explicit movies.  Shove them outside when they've played videogames too long.  Isn't that the whole nature of good parenting?  Mr. Scroggins also states in his opening that he has "spent considerable time over the past couple of years reviewing various curricula across numerous grades in the school district."

Unfortunately, Mr. Scroggins quickly loses me.  I'll spare you his discussion against the sex education program and get straight to the books.

"Equally shocking is the content of the high school English classes. In high school English classes, children are required to read and view material that should be classified as soft pornography.

One such book is called "Speak." They also watch the movie. This is a book about a very dysfunctional family. Schoolteachers are losers, adults are losers and the cheerleading squad scores more than the football team. They have sex on Saturday night and then are goddesses at church on Sunday morning. The cheer squad also gets their group-rate abortions at prom time. As the main character in the book is alone with a boy who is touching her female parts, she makes the statement that this is what high school is supposed to feel like. The boy then rapes her on the next page. Actually, the book and movie both contain two rape scenes."

First of all, I'd like to bring your attention to the disturbing nature of the first bit up there. "...children are required to read and view material that should be classified as soft pornography. One such book is called 'Speak.'" Mr. Scroggins is not only suggesting but blatantly stating that a book about a child rape victim finding her voice is as sexually gratifying as pornography. Laurie Halse Anderson agrees: "The fact that he sees rape as sexually exciting (pornographic) is disturbing, if not horrifying."   I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks that child rape is sexually gratifying needs immediate help.  Rape is a violent physical and mental torture of a victim, nothing less.

Secondly, I'd like to agree that Mr. Scroggins has something of a point--those activities listed hardly sound like wholesome teen behavior.  But I'd like to call attention to the fact that all of this is presented through the lens of an isolated teenager struggling with the agony of rape.  Of course Melinda thinks her family is dysfunctional and lashes out at her parents and schoolteachers--the very people who are supposed to be there to help her are failing her when she needs them most.  And to Melinda, cheerleaders look like beasts because they're popular and (she thinks) they're better able to speak to others about their problems.  Remember, too, that Melinda is emotionally scarred about sex and hates everything about it, and that she probably thinks that good looks and popularity equal sex.  So she lashes out at everything about them, easily latching onto rumors.  Perhaps if Mr. Scroggins had actually taken the time to read the book instead of skimming along to highlight immoral behavior, he would have realized this.

As for the rape, I'd like to say now that it is not graphic.  All Melinda says is, "He hurt me."  As for Mr. Scroggin's "As the main character in the book is alone with a boy who is touching her female parts, she makes the statement that this is what high school is supposed to feel like."  Forgive me if I'm wrong (it's been a few years since I read SPEAK), but isn't the rapist touching her...shoulder?  I'll be sure to cover those up the next time I see a boy ogling them.  Mr. Scroggins' argument that he has extensively reviewed the subject matter is blown out of the water with his last statement here.  "Actually, the book and movie both contain two rape scenes."  Oh, Mr. Scroggins.  This is just sad.  SPEAK--both the book and the movie, as I have experienced them both myself--contain one rape scene.  Just one.

The backlash in the book-blogoverse to this terrible misrepresentation of SPEAK has been swift.  The Twitter hashtag #SpeakLoudly was created so that we could share our own experiences with Speak and our feelings on Mr. Scroggins' article.  Several book-bloggers have written posts about their feelings on this issue, and are including giveaways of the books.  Following Laurie's advice, several bloggers (myself included) have written e-mails to the editor of the paper where this article was printed and to the superintendent of the local Missouri school system.  And we've talked about rape, what it means emotionally to be raped, and how rape cannot be anything other than violence.

In honor of the amazing response from the book-bloggoverse, I've made this button that can go on blogs (directs to Laurie's original post):



<a border="0" href="http://madwomanintheforest.com/this-guy-thinks-speak-is-pornography/" _fcksavedurl="http://madwomanintheforest.com/this-guy-thinks-speak-is-pornography/" target="_blank"><img src=http://pics.livejournal.com/sbarwood/pic/0002343h/s320x240 _fcksavedurl=http://pics.livejournal.com/sbarwood/pic/0002343h/s320x240></a>

In case you have any doubts that rape is real, happening, and destroying people's lives, this is a poem that Laurie wrote using phrases from real responses to her amazing book SPEAK:


Want to read more reactions?  At the end of this post is a Mr. Linky with a bunch of blog posts about this article.

 

I'd also like you to think about this.  Did you know that next week is Banned Books Awareness Week?  Did you know that banned books have included FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, and WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS?  In fact, if you went through a public school system, I can almost guarantee you that some book you have read in your life has been banned.  So, what can we do about this?

First remember that, yes, as much as we like to deny it, the book-blogosphere only reaches people on the Internet.  SPEAK to people in Real-Life about this.  Teachers, friends, parents, random people on the street.  Make signs, give away buttons, get a megaphone, throw confetti.  Just get the word out.  Books affect us; we relate to books and they help us through the experiences in our lives.  Think of all the people that Laurie helped through just SPEAKing about rape.  Now think if those people had never read her book.

And I encourage you to read banned books.  Many banned books are my "All-Time Favorites," and even if they're not, if they're just too out there for me, at least I know.  I've made the decision that the book isn't for me or that I don't agree with it, not someone who's skimmed through a book looking for the bad in it.  I hope you'll join me. :)



Happy reading of banned books, Dears. <3