Real classy, Amazon.com
I’ve already made a concentrated effort to purchase books and comics from Chicago feminist bookstore Women and Children First, instead of Amazon.com. Basically, to borrow from one of my own posts, “Yes, it costs me a bit more than Amazon, but it’s important to me to have such a resource in my neighborhood. I want to live down the street from a store that carries books like Whipping Girl and Yes Means Yes (and has staff who have read them!) and hosts book clubs like The Intergenerational Feminist Book Club and (way on the other end of the spectrum) the Buffy Discussion Group. That said, it’s a shame their website is so slow…” So I’ve already been moving away from Amazon.com.
But this latest post from Jezebel.com just gives me more reason to do so. In short, Amazon is removing sales rankings from some (but, randomly, not all!) GLBT books on the basis of their “adult” content, including some books aimed at kids and young adults.
From Jezebel:
Queer theory books, books on coming out, and feminism books lose their rankings, but A Parent’s Guide To Preventing Homosexuality gets to keep its rank? WTF?!?
Amazon Logic: “The Vixen Diaries” and “Confessions of a Video Vixen” by Karrine Steffans: not adult!
“Queer Theory: An Introduction”: Adult! Will somebody please think of the children!?!
This means that, in addition to having positive GLBT books not appearing on Amazon’s best-sellers list, searching for ‘homosexuality’ on Amazon currently returns “A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality”! What the hell?!
Steer clear of Amazon!
-R
Themocracy