Hello, you need to understand that in order to make a cohesive legal argument that this book and others like it are unfairly targeted, you must put more focus on finding numerous library books that weren't banned that have straight cis versions of the same queer content within "gender queer" that was objected to. To not do this due diligence is to do yourself a disservice
@zebruh2794 example, if gender queer has a depiction of a queer sex scene in it , find other books that aren't banned that show the same objectionable content but are cis het in nature
@@amyh9512 for example, comparing the a LGBT book that was banned, to a book that wasn't banned that have the straight cis adult fun time, I'm getting this right? If so, then that is also a good idea
When I was a teen I went out of my way to find and read "banned" books purely because they were banned. I think often in the hurry to lock things away, it's easy to forget that doing so often draws more attention to them and makes rebellious teenagers want to get ahold of them even more. Especially in this day and age, when more and more people want to work to figure their own identities out.
I did that exact same thing. That how I found some of my favourite books like a clockwork Orange, 1984, the doors of perception, the anarchists cook book (I think it's still banned to the point that it can be used in court if your suspected of terrorism) and American Psycho. Great books for the most part, although the anarchists cook book was very obviously made for a specific type of person.
That's perfectly fine to do as a teenager, that wasn't the problem....this book was in grade school and middle school libraries. It is not appropriate for people that young.
I am gender-fluid/genderqueer and sad to say the first time i heard the term was from a murder documentary that i saw on UA-cam, the victim was openly gender-fluid. I wish i had a book like “Gender Queer” in my younger teen years. it would honestly save me so many tears, scars and hatred towards myself for feeling the way i felt and not knowing why. More books like Gender Queer need to be written for young queers like me.🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Yeah it sure would have saved a lot of trial-and-error with the great description on how to take it in The ass. There should definitely be more instructional books of this nature in grade school libraries... WTF
Number one where did he mention anything sexual, he simply was talking about how he wished there was a book that was there when he felt he was born in the wrong body
Also saying that any book that is lgbtq is in appropriate is very dehumanizing because newsflash there are kids who are LGBTQ would you consider them inappropriate
Jesus is what you need my friend he can heal you from this confusion don’t let the devil trick you into believing all this nonsense you either male or female
My friends and I literally purchased and read manga and graphic novels in middle school with full nudity in them. Gender Queer sounds significantly more insightful than anything we were reading in other graphic novels at that time.
@travisdoe4663 Not those specifically, but I definitely remember learning what a flasher was for the first time in my high school English class when we all read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" together as a class.
Excited for this video to come out! I bought the second most banned book of the US last week, All Boys Ain't Blue, and it's really a nice read that really doesn't promote any extreme ideas or pushes kids to suddenly be black and gay, but it is a bittersweet depiction of the reality that black and queer people growing up have to face and the struggles of finding yourself in a world that is nothing like you, that even hates you for being yourself. Having to hide from the world and from yourself all the time. Being scared of your own family, even though they do love you, but you're just never shown to expect anything else than hatred and slurs. Standing up for yourself when no one else does it for you. The author brings a lot of great points to the table, and in the end it IS about queer joy and the journey we've got ahead of ourselves. But if gender and sexual identity was a choice, which kid would wish this upon themselves? Who does this book hurt except the whitewashing of history, the heteronormative racist biases ingrained in and passed on to each generation which we often don't even know impact our behaviour. Challenging these ideas of hierarchy and power is dangerous to the ones trying to keep these books away from developing young minds.
My favorite quotes from All Boys Aren’t Blue: “I can only hope this story frees someone else who may be holding guilt from an encounter with an abuser.” (212) “There were no books for me to read in order to understand what I was going through as a kid. There were no heroes or icons to emulate…. Because there wasn’t and still isn’t much out there, I made my original goal to get it right. “…I released the deepest and darkest things about my past in the hopes that someone might see a reflection of themselves in the words and know that they are not alone…” (295) “Whether this book is a bestseller or a flop, if one person is helped by my story, then it was all worth it.” (297)
If this topic is of interest to you, two new Manga were released in America this week related to the subject of nonbinary genders. One is called "At 30 I Realized I had No Gender" and the other is "X Gender," volume 2. Those are on my list to pick up.
I read Genderqueer a couple months ago and it’s a great book! I’m in my early twenties but I think it would’ve been appropriate for me as an older high schooler. I’m not genderqueer so it gave me a new perspective and I’m always happy to read more LGBTQ books
It's so frustrating to hear people who haven't read the book proudly announce they haven't read it and then call for it to be banned! Personally, I probably won't read it. Nothing against the concept, I'm just not super into graphic novels and at 48 I'm a bit past coming of age books. But even though I haven't read it I can say that no book should be banned from public spaces (such as school or public libraries) without *very* strong evidence that it's lacking any and all social merit. "Mein Kampf" is available in many (most?) public libraries! This is what freedom of speech means - sometimes truly heinous material is printed, distributed, and circulated in libraries. (Not that "Genderqueer" falls under heinous in any way. But many, far, far more problematic pieces of literature do and can still be found in libraries, including the Bible.) There is some irony though. When a book gets banned it often (although not always) results in increased sales. It did for "Genderqueer" and Kobabe now has a new book deal with Scholastic for release 2025. Good job bigots.
Banning books for teenagers kind of cracks me up. Like, teenagers aren't little children anymore, they're savvy enough on the internet to bypass any parental block. Banning books is probably the best advertisement for these books...
The only reason I read Catcher in the Rye as a teen was because it was banned so many times and all the controversy surrounding it made me curious about its contents
@@travisdoe4663 a pretty solid chunk of the complaints that have been filed regarding this book, were done against high school libraries, not grade school. If course, if you buy the "Moms for Liberty" propaganda line, they always use the term "children", hoping you'll imagine a class of little first graders, who are having this book read aloud to them on a daily basis by some blue-haired lib teacher, and required to write a book report afterward. That's intentional, of course. Because if they told you that most of the students whose parents complained about Gender Queer were actually high school seniors who went looking for it, and checked the book out of the library because they _wanted_ to read it (for *some* reason 🤔)... Then you might realize how ridiculous and bigoted this whole moral panic truly is.
To address a bias you didn't hit on/answer the pressing question: Many adults think comic books are for kids, like how many think animation is for kids, and many children's comics and picture books strongly resemble the art (abstract, colorful) that is inside this particular book. If something looks like a children's book, people not reading the book's content are definitely not going to think about checking target age for it -- so I fully condemn what's happening, but not super surprised this particular book is getting slammed as hard as it is, because it's a textbook example of "Don't judge a book by its cover."
its like how shows like american dad and family guy have easy to watch animation but are still adult shows but when I was younger I was watching peter griffin bloodied up fighting a chicken man and of course thats not age appropriate but my parents knew in the world I will see things like that so they decided to at least show a tame version. but people are now attacking shows like steven universe for "forcing lgbt" even though yes its made for children but it doesn't show anything explicit, parents need to stop forcing their ideologies onto children and allow them to understand and digest media discussing "mature" topics (ik the comment is abit wish-washy but yeah)
Except this colorfully illustrated book That depicts scenes of anal sex among other things is available in grade school libraries, that's 5-11 year olds...
Having this book in an elementary or middle school is absolutely wrong. And disgusting. Why in the world do we need to sexualize children at such a young age?
I'm so happy to see your channel grow and have videos related to the very real issues surrounding LGBTQ people. Commenting now before finishing the video to boost the algorithm.
Great video. If it really was about "pornography" defenders of banning lgbt books would bring attention to actual pornography from free sites of which teenagers are one of the biggest consumers. Even kids let's say before age 12 get confronted with pornography intentionally or unintentionally due to it being so incredibly easy to access, either them coming across it themselves or receiving it through their smartphones from peers. In the mid 2000s when I was around 10 years my classmates were openly talking about internet pornography, and now we have smartphones that parents don't have control over. But the parents in this video making a fuss about these books...I feel they're looking for something in order to attack a group because of their ideas they strongly disagree with. If it was truly about pornography, they would put priority on the actual hardcore material that's easily accessible online and not these books that don't come ANYWHERE close to that! The comparison between Gender Queer and Penthouse is laughable!
Porn is already banned at schools. These are two different issues. One is internet access outside of schools and the other is about internet and book access inside schools.
@@superjlk_9538 it happens on the internet and in books inside schools yes, but is there a compelling reason for a state to basically impose censorship by outright banning this book and similar ones in all schools including middle and even high schools while we're talking about relatively mild material? I don't think so.
@@MrtyjrYes it is because just like banning porn and any material that contains sexually explicit content (though some may find MILD-- Srsly? Wtf 🤨🤨) should not be an exception just because it's tagged LGBT. And they're not banning it due to that but the graphic content. To say that it doesn't deserve to be banned for any OTHER reason is minimizing the issue behind it. Just because some children may be exposed to sex earlier on, doesn't make it appropriate for any school to allow this. Why should they? Because sex has been NORMALIZED and it represents the pride community? I REPEAT: Graphic sexual content. Any books that have that regardless of it being straight or gay is NOT for a school library.
That happened to me in middle school. I picked a book from the “adult romance” section of my local bookstore to give to my friend as a gift. She later told me it was very explicit (i didn't know this) and teased me about it but we both had a good laugh and moved on. She even said she liked the book overall. Some adults might be surprised by how well kids can handle “inappropriate” topics and even seek them out, like another kid I knew who was into 18+ horror movies.
I've only heard bad things about this book and couldn't believe it. The misinformation being spread about it was insane. I'm glad you've made a video on this. As a ciswoman I've never really understood what it meant to be genderqueer but I can still respect those who are. I realized I don't need to understand all the nuances and complexities of it to know that it is a valid identity. It's always confused me but it seems like this book would help me understand it better. It's been added to my reading list!
The sad thing is you cannot have constructive conversations with most of the people who believe the rhetoric of politicians it goes both ways but especially on the right leaning side of the American right leaning political system.
If books with (apparently) graphic / sexual content in the adult section is a danger to children, then every single book with graphic / sexual content that's *technically* within reach of children should be banned, if this is the logic they want to go with, they're going to have to follow through, or concede, or y'know, just act like there's no issue, legislate it away, and move on to the next artificial issue.
Exactly! By that politicians own logic, library's should be made up of ONLY children's books, because any book not deemed appropriate for children could possibly be opened up by a child.
@@dragongirl89115 This is the same logic UA-cam uses too, which fucking sucks, we all have to abide to the whims of children that *shouldn't even fucking be here* to get paid, even when there's literally a button that says "this isn't for kids".
@@superjlk_9538 I think you misunderstood my comment, and didn't watch the video, the book isn't even made for kids, it was never meant to be in the curriculum, nobody is trying to put it *in* the curriculum, that's what the anti-LGBTQ+ are *saying* we're doing, when we aren't.
Which is WHY the ban is legitimate. Not just this type of book but ANY book containing sexually graphic material. If this book contained ONLY TEXT, NO IMAGES, maybe it wouldn't draw so much attention unlike your regular adult romance novels, but the fact that it does, and it appears to be a kid-friendly INFORMATIVE book is grounds for criticism, and certainly deserves it.
Something that really bothers me about this whole situation is how all of the things that these lawmakers are spouting absolutely doesn’t apply to books with hetero characters. Like, when I was a middle schooler, I was able to grab Pretty Little Liars off of my school’s library shelves, and in that book, all of the main four girls do some pretty sexual stuff, but no one really cares about that because three out of the four main girls are straight. No one considers that to be grooming (even though one of the girls literally has a sexual relationship with a teacher).
fascinating, isn't it? It's because they were all anti-LGBT. the books with any hetero characters get a pass because they don't care. Indeed it was never about porn or erotica.
The part that people have the most issue with lasts a page or less, is not framed in any particularly titillating way, and actually acts as a good and healthy example of someone revoking eir consent and eir partner immediately stopping without complaint.
I don’t believe parents deserve any ownership over their children. I am against the idea of “parents rights”, because it always comes down to a parent’s right to control their child. Someone should not have a right to control you or abuse you because you are their child, but that is what it comes down to. Children are human beings and deserve their rights to be protected and defended. Trans kids grow into trans adults, no amount of harsh or cruel parenting is going to get that to change. We need to start defending kids against their parents. The Christian kids have it extra bad, with their parents forcing the public world to censor itself to aide in the brainwashing of their children.
It's really nice to see such an honest look and take on the book since i've heard a lot about it but didn't know much. I'm very glad you made this video talking about the misunderstandings with the book and how much it can mean to a lot of people. Your videos are always getting better, i really love your setup and enjoy listening to your voice. And i know that you'll make it to the stars
I read this book pretty quickly after it was released and had no idea that there was any controversy about it. Sad that folks are stirring up BS and hopefully that means folks will seek it out.
I am highly against banning a book outright as that would be an attack on freedom of speech. However Game of Thrones and shows like it are not appropriate for teenagers. If a parent wants to allow their kids to watch shows like that it is their right as a parent. Other parents should not be trying to raise other people's kids and that should go both ways. Any book with any sexual content should not be available to children without the consent of their parents. So if the book has sexual content in it, then it should not be kept on high school shelves, or at least require parental consent before their child is permitted to check-out the book.
Seeing someone outside of the queer community respecting someones neopronouns is quite uncommon. It feels so refreshing seeing someone respecting them, especially so casually.
think the possessive might be "eir" and not "eirs" but idk edit: ah yeah you fixed that later on nvm then I'll also say that there's obviously an extreme double standard here considering the amount of violent/sexual media that nobody is rushing to ban. Not very fun.
I read this comic recently and thought it was very good. I am non-binary and I related to some parts of the author’s experiences. Especially there is one part where the author uses a set of scales as a metaphor for gender and i deeply related to that bit. I would say this book is very frank and honest about sexuality, and there is some nudity and sex scenes, however I wouldn’t say its really more explicit than some other stuff I read as a teenager. In high school, I remember my high school library had the comic Invincible. That comic has a lot of graphic violence, some nudity and sex scenes and even a scene where a character is r@ped. But because all the sex is heterosexual, I haven't really seen the same kind of backlash trying to ban that comic to “protect the kids”. People need to realize, kids aren’t as fragile as some people think. I read the comic Maus, a comic about the horrors of the Holocaust, when I was in high school. I think I would have survived seeing some nudity.
The first time i met a trans adult was when i was 18, afterwards i sat at the train platform and cried. Realising that until then i hadnt actually considered that i could grow old hit like a truck. Visibility is so important. Knowing that people like you exist for all ages is life saving
You cover things so well and you always seem so cheerful in your videos when talking about these things, it's a real breath of fresh air with everything going on! I think that it should be up to the kids what they want to read, except for if it's like explicit or adult content or whatever but talking about gender identity and sexuality shouldn't be a bad thing and I think it would actually help a lot of kids to either understand themselves better, understand others better or even just understand the struggles of queer people. Edit thing I guess: I realize how this sounds so I'm gonna rephrase, gender and sexuality on it's own is fine for kids to read about and they're putting this book in the adult section because it is for adults, not kids. Kids should be able to decide if they wanna read about little Susan going to middle school and realizing she might be queer (Idk), that's harmless content safe for kids.
I'm okay with this book being at any public library, except school libraries, where parents would have zero control over whether their kids read it. Gender ideology is a belief system, not based in any science or objective truth (essentially a religion), and I believe parents should decide what ideologies their kids get involved in or even read about. This shouldn't be complicated.
Bs, it's backed up by both sociology and biology. The core of it is based on the difference of gender and sex. Which is scientifically. Calling it an idealogy is ignorance.
@@superjlk_9538 Except there is? Sex is biological and decided based on primary sexual characteristics to the extent that works, gender is a social construct working alongside gender expression. There is nothing in one's sex assigned at birth that deems things such as makeup, dresses and long hair to be a thing exclusively for women or that short hair and suits are only for men. That's something society made out to be the social norm in more recent times. High heels are a great example. At some point in history, high heels was associated with being worn by men, often higher class. Then in later years it was seen as someting "only women can wear." And this can also apply to makeup, wigs, the colour pink. Only like 100 or so years ago, newborn boys were swaddled in pink and girls in blue before it suddenly reversed.
I read this book at a perfect time exactly a year ago, somehow I was going through or just gone through a similar gynecology visit that went better than the book, because of consent and it made me not feel alone in hoping others in that situation (which I bet is much more common than people think) options and discussions
Reading this book changed my life; it felt like reading a book written about me. I have always struggled to relate to characters (real or fictional) in books, so this book felt almost eerie in its relatability.
Every new page, I was flashing back to specific moments in my life where I felt similar things and had similar thoughts. Any self-doubt that I’m non-binary has left me.
Drive a vehicle, get married at age over 16, then people older than 16 should be available to read or watch anything? Below 16 then with parents permission?
It’s a wonder to me that you are largely undiscovered. Your intellectual honesty and ability to create comprehensive, informative content is to be commended. I wish you the very best, and I hope you continue to do great things.
I think that it is quite ironic how the same people preaching "facts and logic" and "facts don't care about your feelings" spread such a ridiculous conspiracy theory fuelled by hatred as LGBTQIA+ existing to groom children. You could say they mean "facts don't care about your feelings! They only care about mine!" and just never say the second part. Btw, je parle le français, mais je ne suis pas très bon en ça(that last part after pas was with help from google translate. Would've done it like that anyway, but if wrong, then blame google, please). Qu'est-ce que "beef labeling supervision duties transfer act(ou "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" en allemand)" en français?(I just wanted to say something in french idk)
It seems to me you may have misspoken. The phrase "Adults Only" in America often refers to pornography. I don't believe any American libraries have an "Adults Only" section. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
In my experience (which is pretty limited to be fair), there are distinct children’s, teens’, and adults’ sections, but there are no rules barring folks from checking out materials from any of those sections. If a parent wishes to curate the material their child consumes, they must actively participate by either going to the library with their kid or checking their kid’s selections at home.
Wonderful video! I absolutely love that you made a point to read the book. Back in 2019, when I checked Genderqueer out from my library it really helped me learn from a lived experience, and it introduced me to neopronouns- both things that have really stuck with me throughout the years. I was 18 at the time, but from the age of 13 onward, I would intentionally look for all the LGBT+ books in my public library. I learned how to utalize the electronic library system search so I could find them all. These books made me feel less alone, and more connected to community. I feel represented extremely rarely as someone who is Asexual, demiromantic and sapphic, but I was always searching. From that perspective, its so cool to see books like Genderqueer representing an experience that is also marginalized within the marginalized and under-if at all- represented experience.
I do agree that the book shouldn't be banned from a public library, that's pretty ridiculous. Just don't bring your little children to a public library if you plan to let them wander adult sections unsupervised. But I don't think there's anything wrong with removing the book from school libraries, even high school ones. When I was in high school, I read SO much from our school library, including a ton of romance novels (I may or may not have been a little bit obsessed lol). And never did I find anything that had even an ounce of explicit sexual content. That was just not a thing back then (and I'm a millennial who is BARELY older than the first Gen Z-ers, it wasn't THAT long ago that I was in high school). In my opinion, explicit sexual content should be more of an "opt-in" thing rather than an "opt-out" thing for parents raising teenagers. And so by default, schools should not provide any material with graphic sexual content that's freely open to all students. But if a parent wants their teenage kid to be exposed to Gender Queer, they could always pick it up at a book store or at a public library. I think that's how it ought to be handled.
Your response to Thinking Critical’s video at the end up of the video is very mature and well put together. If everyone was able to take those small steps towards a healthy discourse on any controversial topic the world would be in a lot better place I think.
I agree that it shouldn't be banned from the adult section of public libraries, but school libraries hardly seems the place for such sexual material as is featured... An 11 year old apparently found the book on display in their school library, unless I misunderstood what happened... Children may not be being forced to read it, but putting it in a public and visible place for them to encounter it, without supervision, is arguably also inappropriate... Maybe even with supervision... I think it's important for children between the ages of 11 and 16 to get some sexual education, but I say to keep it brief and to the basic, important stuff... Let them work out anything else by themselves and over time, of their own volition. I do think that maybe it could be reasonable for a 14 year old to be allowed to read it, although waiting until 16 might be wiser... That said, still not sure that a school is the right place... And in the UK we have secondary school that covers the 11 to 16 age range, so it's probably unreasonable to expect that an 11 year old wouldn't find it unless you have a restricted section, which I don't think most do... That said, I don't know if school libraries are used as much these days... I do agree that maybe he should have read the book... That said, if your argument is about the explicit elements being inappropriate for a library or something, providing that he has seen that objectionable material, I'm not sure the rest matters... In regards to indoctrinating kids with ideology or something, he might need to read it first... Although there is the argument that, depending on the children, that anything focusing in depth on sexuality could be a bad idea, especially before 14 or whatever, regardless of knowing the content, although that's more of a stretch... It does seem that children with conditions like autism seem to be particularly at risk of being confused by overexposure to this stuff though... It may be why I went through a phase around 16 when I was finally able to explore sexual content online more freely... But yeah, I say definitely ban it from school libraries... Public libraries should be fine, especially if properly age restricted... But it certainly seems inappropriate for schools, except maybe high schools, although I'm not sure... Would other books with explicit sexual content be suitable? Like 50 Shades of Grey or something? I dunno... I don't think I'd be against people over 16 reading it, but I also don't think school is the place for it...
The book " Gender Queer " is a memoir talking about the authors life as a non-binary teen. The book is only about the authors experience and hence I don't think it needs to be banned in school libraries. High school libraries can choose to display this book as some children may want to educate themselves about the LGBT community or for queer kids who want to understand other people who have faced the same problem as them. Teens often get into relationships and sometimes these turn Sexual. Talking about this topic and reducing stigma around such issues is more beneficial for society
I think the book itself and topic is perfectly fine... but the image of oral sex to me is a bit too much to be in schools. I thought from the beginning of the video that this book was in an adult only section of a library but then later you show that its in the school library. I dont think that is appropriate... again the majority of the book is absolutely fine im only referring to the oral sex scene. I dont like that both sides are stubborn on this... those pages could easily be edited for age appropriate reading... there could be an uncensored version and PG 13 version available. I dont understand why that isnt even an option.
@@mobcrusher99even middle schoolers know what sex and porn is to the point of being able to name the actors It's better to teach them safe consensual sex Acting like they know nothing helps no one
When I purchased this book I noticed it was in the adult section for graphic novels. Turns out, thirty-nine percent (pages 1-95) of this book discusses life under eighteen years of age. Page 96- 239 contains graphic adult sex acts, written descriptions of sex acts, stranger sex and where to get it, product placements for adult books, adult websites, sex toys and sex stores, finding sexual partners in the workplace.. etc... In my mind, there is so little in this book at a person under the age of eighteen can relate to - it is inappropriate for schools.
Banning overtly sexual books for kids (far beyond sex ed and anatomy, periods, etc. )is different than banning books in general It's so profoundly dishonest.
I just want to thank you for responding to all these lies, especially from dishonest husks like Thinking Critical, in a calm and empathetic tone. It's very difficult to stay calm and try to have a conversation when the people on the other side are so obviously unprincipled and motivated. But it's very important to get this message out there in such dangerous times
I really agree that you need to read/watch something before you can analyze it. I did a group project in high school about Florida's 1557 house bill (aka the "Don't Say Gay" bill). I had to tell my classmates to actually read it before they started the project.
Thank you for taking the time to do this unbiased review of the book. I had an argument the other day with a friend who was talking about this book being prevalent in elementary schools and needing to be banned yada yada yada. So I wanted to know more about this subject, and actually, read the book. This video was my first step before reading the book. Thank you for presenting it as you have.
These are people who insist that all graphic novels and animation are intended for kids. They can't fathom that someone would choose the graphic novel format for writing their memoir because they see everything in that format as "comic strip" style simple picture stories for kids. So it's really easy to lie to them and get them worked up about Genderqueer "targeting" their kids. They need to read Maus, they need to read Watchmen and The Boys lol
As I understand, the amount of nudity in media is moreso a severely limited topic in most English TV compared with most other language options, due to the united states death grip on English media and the puritanicalism of their politics. This is not to say all are more free with depictions, but from what ive seen and heard it does seem to be one of the most restrictive. If unaware, it might be worth checking the Hayes code for more info about the manner and timeframe of explicit restrictions on Hollywood's output, cause while it is responsible for the restriction of queer content, it locked up quite a few other topics also. (I do not remember specifics off the top of my head but it shouldn't be too hard to find)
when I was a kid I wasn't allowed in adult book stores unlike today's kids who's parents seem to let them do what they want. I'm tired of a few adults not taking responsibility for their responsibilities aka kids & blaming others when something happens to their kids...
yo gui!!! i stumbled upon your videos on gender recently and I have to say you're so well spoken and funny (and well dressed of course). when i saw you went to arQuives and glad day for your research i smiled so big, while i don't go to the village as much as I want to, GD is one of my favorite places in the city and I have felt nothing short of welcome when spending time and chatting with staff. It makes me proud to be here. I hope with awareness surrounding banned books, we will conclude that knowledge and education is power. the system is notorious for going after less-than-traditional perspectives over history, if we learned anything from that its that the population asks for change and revolution when they are aware. banning books is a side-effect of a government that doesn't want its citizens to question the way it works. thank you for being you 💕
I got this book for christmas from my aunt this year?? I read it all that morning and it seems like a pretty normal thing i'd see online, i don't see why people are so upset that it is published physically
i found this book very touching as a twenty-something genderqueer person. i agree that it seems good for teenagers and older. as a teen i saw and read plenty of sexual things that were not nearly as thoughtful those in Gender Queer. thank you for a great thorough video, and i really appreciate you putting in the effort to use Maia's pronouns.
Thank you so much for this video! This felt like a great unbiased video on the subject, which i feel like so many news outlets dont give. This really helped me form an unbiased opinion.
Excellent coverage of the book and all the ignorance surrounding it! Thank you for a full and proper deep dive into the content of the book along with your insights into the haters/ban promoters of the book. Much appreciated.
This was a really good and nuanced video. I am absolutely on the political right, but I believe banning or censorship is not the way to go. You should be exposed to multiple opinions and you should never get stuck in an echo chamber.
ok i read the book and i got to say, "what in the world are these people talking about?" Sure there's some nudity and some sexual act but extremely few that it's hardly pornographic and all this stuff about "pushing ideology on kids" is laughable! It's just the author's life trying to explain their journey to finding themselves. Sorry for using they I am not even sure because I'm not into this whole pronoun thing. Not trying to be disrespectful. but yeah, this book is only meant for older teens and this is just ridiculous, it's not evil or pushing any agenda and most certainly hardly porn at all! and the only reason people are getting upset over this is because it's an LGBT book. Just bigotry disguised as "concerned about some porno in children's schools."
For me is not appropriate for school child..public library yes, i support book in library in adult section. That Book in School library is like Game of Thrones at 10am after Ponny show or Paw Patrol… if you had library only access for people over 14 i believe you.. can put library school
Im honestly just so tired of the “protect the children” argument, grooming is a relatively very small issue and we already have laws against that stuff, obviously the argument is intended to shift the situation to something everyone already agrees with but there are so many actual issues america should be putting there collective effort into fixing that all of this just makes me sad There are so many more important things to worry about right now, like our infrastructure, polarization and rural urban divide, The wealth inequality and segregation and gentrification SO many areas are dealing with, even if we just want to “protect the children” we should probably focus on school shooting underfunded schools and abusive teachers right now, i mean hell grooming IS a problem in many schools, but ill bet you anything most of the abuse is coming from straight white guys Im just annoyed at all this
@@Kitsunetim just reread my comment, saying grooming is “a relatively very small issue” is pretty offensive considering grooming isn’t about numbers but the psychological impact of grooming It reasonable to care about it more then rural urban divide that was an offensive implication from me my bad But underfunded schools? Yeah, if you want to “protect the children” maybe start there
This is crazy! School districts have an obligation to ban this book. If this is not about programming children, why is the LGBTQ-P (don’t forget the P) so focused on kids? Why do trans men want to show their junk to kids?
@@emrose3308 Me literally saying "Not for children" is not me not ignoring anything. It's my own statement. It's not for children. Go push your delusions on someone else, I'm reporting you ya delusional troll.
8:30 Using a Whopper as a justification for not consuming media you're criticizing is stupid, you *should* go eat a Whopper to know how it tastes, that's how assessing literally anything works, you can get anecdotes, and form an opinion based on them, but don't express that opinion as if you're fully informed on the subject, because by definition, you are not.
@@epic.6608 The depiction of children sex acts and recommending sex toys to young kids. This is disgusting. If you think otherwise than you also are disgusting.
I'm sorry. This all confuses the shit out of me. I don't get the e/ em/ eir whatever pronouns at all. Could all just be yourselves without intensely labeling it. Its okay for women to be masculine, and men to be feminine, etc etc.
I still don’t understand why the writer insists on showing us the yellow pee on the grass. 3:28 Or this 👉 4:06 ewww! Strange choices. Where the heck is the EDITOR?
Let me sum this all up for you guys: If the target audience was highschools taking a healthclass it would have received less flak. The fact this was being targeted for age groups 10 and under it became DOA. Let's just chalk this to: Leave children alone Also teenage years are usually ages 13 and up so this book was NOT aimed at teens
It was outright stated in the video and in the places the book was or is available that the book is not aimed at kids around 10. Did you not even watch the video?
@@Mika_Lors what you say and what has been caught at schools are two different realities. I am pretty open minded about the trans subject, if you are an adult it is your body and noone has a right to tell you no. But if you want something like this in a school, my compromise is to keep it within the health ed clasroom and keep it out of anyone under 13 years old. Maybe change up the art style so it doesn't look like it is for children. Then maybe have some public outcry by the trans community when teachers get caught doing stuff like taking kids to a gay bar as a field trip? Just saying went it comes to the creeper situation we track those on the right, but noone is willing to cast down the ones hiding behind the rainbow flag.
The book itself is a comic. The writer studied graphic novels i.e. comics, not how to BE a comic. You DO know that, right? You wouldn't just PRETEND to be smart and spew out all those comments, right?
I think we know the answer based on you brushing off other people with more freedom and depth of thought than you as "hippies", rattling off a knee-jerk list of colourful descriptors like "snake-loving". What were you trying to convey with that one. What does that mean. You hate snakes? You hate people who don't hate snakes???
why doesn't e use we instead of I ? That would remind everbody immediately that he/she are not the correct pronouns. SHE HER HER HERS HERSELF HE HIM HIS HIS HIMSELF zie zim zir zis zieself sie sie hir hirs hirself ey em eir eirs eirself ve ver vis vers verself tey ter tem ters terself e em eir eirs emself Not sure if these gender neutral/inclusice pronouns will ever become mainstream. There is a gender neutral pronoun..... good old IT. Unfortunately it has a bad reputation since the movie Silence of the Lambs 'It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told or else it gets the hose again.... now it places the lotion in the basket"
👇Purchase 'GENDER QUEER' here to support the channel AND local bookstores!
bookshop.org/lists/banned-books-series
yes, please
Hello, you need to understand that in order to make a cohesive legal argument that this book and others like it are unfairly targeted, you must put more focus on finding numerous library books that weren't banned that have straight cis versions of the same queer content within "gender queer" that was objected to. To not do this due diligence is to do yourself a disservice
@@amyh9512 what do you mean?
@zebruh2794 example, if gender queer has a depiction of a queer sex scene in it , find other books that aren't banned that show the same objectionable content but are cis het in nature
@@amyh9512 for example, comparing the a LGBT book that was banned, to a book that wasn't banned that have the straight cis adult fun time, I'm getting this right? If so, then that is also a good idea
When I was a teen I went out of my way to find and read "banned" books purely because they were banned. I think often in the hurry to lock things away, it's easy to forget that doing so often draws more attention to them and makes rebellious teenagers want to get ahold of them even more. Especially in this day and age, when more and more people want to work to figure their own identities out.
PDFs/ePUBs of like any book are available online too… removing physical copies does nothing but single them out.
I think that's called the Barbra Streisand effect. The more you try to hide and get rid of something, the more attention and publicity you give it.
I did that exact same thing. That how I found some of my favourite books like a clockwork Orange, 1984, the doors of perception, the anarchists cook book (I think it's still banned to the point that it can be used in court if your suspected of terrorism) and American Psycho. Great books for the most part, although the anarchists cook book was very obviously made for a specific type of person.
That's perfectly fine to do as a teenager, that wasn't the problem....this book was in grade school and middle school libraries. It is not appropriate for people that young.
@@c.a.a.n7874 if memory serves me right, it wasn't. It was for adults. In public library's, it was in the adult section.
It’s funny that this book gets banned but they have high schoolers reading Lolita
that's a good point, hadn't thought on that. That book is very disturbing and fascinating that they didn't try to go after it.
This book is trash and should never be allowed in schools don’t try to justify this garbage
I am gender-fluid/genderqueer and sad to say the first time i heard the term was from a murder documentary that i saw on UA-cam, the victim was openly gender-fluid. I wish i had a book like “Gender Queer” in my younger teen years. it would honestly save me so many tears, scars and hatred towards myself for feeling the way i felt and not knowing why. More books like Gender Queer need to be written for young queers like me.🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Gross
Yeah it sure would have saved a lot of trial-and-error with the great description on how to take it in The ass. There should definitely be more instructional books of this nature in grade school libraries... WTF
Number one where did he mention anything sexual, he simply was talking about how he wished there was a book that was there when he felt he was born in the wrong body
Also saying that any book that is lgbtq is in appropriate is very dehumanizing because newsflash there are kids who are LGBTQ would you consider them inappropriate
Jesus is what you need my friend he can heal you from this confusion don’t let the devil trick you into believing all this nonsense you either male or female
My friends and I literally purchased and read manga and graphic novels in middle school with full nudity in them. Gender Queer sounds significantly more insightful than anything we were reading in other graphic novels at that time.
Ikr
It's just a bigoted double standard
Straight nudity: "fine"
LGBT people existing: "sexual! not fit for kids!"
We're any of those graphic novels available in your high school's library?
@travisdoe4663 Not those specifically, but I definitely remember learning what a flasher was for the first time in my high school English class when we all read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" together as a class.
@@syntext well I'd imagine that's a little different then a detailed description of taking it in The 💩'er.
Excited for this video to come out! I bought the second most banned book of the US last week, All Boys Ain't Blue, and it's really a nice read that really doesn't promote any extreme ideas or pushes kids to suddenly be black and gay, but it is a bittersweet depiction of the reality that black and queer people growing up have to face and the struggles of finding yourself in a world that is nothing like you, that even hates you for being yourself. Having to hide from the world and from yourself all the time. Being scared of your own family, even though they do love you, but you're just never shown to expect anything else than hatred and slurs. Standing up for yourself when no one else does it for you. The author brings a lot of great points to the table, and in the end it IS about queer joy and the journey we've got ahead of ourselves. But if gender and sexual identity was a choice, which kid would wish this upon themselves? Who does this book hurt except the whitewashing of history, the heteronormative racist biases ingrained in and passed on to each generation which we often don't even know impact our behaviour. Challenging these ideas of hierarchy and power is dangerous to the ones trying to keep these books away from developing young minds.
💙 'All Boys Ain't Blue' is on my Wishlist! I hear it's very good!
🔥 Excited to read your feedback about this video!
My favorite quotes from All Boys Aren’t Blue:
“I can only hope this story frees someone else who may be holding guilt from an encounter with an abuser.” (212)
“There were no books for me to read in order to understand what I was going through as a kid. There were no heroes or icons to emulate…. Because there wasn’t and still isn’t much out there, I made my original goal to get it right.
“…I released the deepest and darkest things about my past in the hopes that someone might see a reflection of themselves in the words and know that they are not alone…” (295)
“Whether this book is a bestseller or a flop, if one person is helped by my story, then it was all worth it.” (297)
WOW HOW GREAT FOR U
If this topic is of interest to you, two new Manga were released in America this week related to the subject of nonbinary genders. One is called "At 30 I Realized I had No Gender" and the other is "X Gender," volume 2. Those are on my list to pick up.
Adding these to my wish list! I'll be reading 'Flamer' next!
@@guihuppe I don't know that. I have a small shelf of LGBTQ graphic novels.
I read Genderqueer a couple months ago and it’s a great book! I’m in my early twenties but I think it would’ve been appropriate for me as an older high schooler. I’m not genderqueer so it gave me a new perspective and I’m always happy to read more LGBTQ books
I loved Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky ❤️❤️❤️
It's so frustrating to hear people who haven't read the book proudly announce they haven't read it and then call for it to be banned! Personally, I probably won't read it. Nothing against the concept, I'm just not super into graphic novels and at 48 I'm a bit past coming of age books.
But even though I haven't read it I can say that no book should be banned from public spaces (such as school or public libraries) without *very* strong evidence that it's lacking any and all social merit. "Mein Kampf" is available in many (most?) public libraries! This is what freedom of speech means - sometimes truly heinous material is printed, distributed, and circulated in libraries. (Not that "Genderqueer" falls under heinous in any way. But many, far, far more problematic pieces of literature do and can still be found in libraries, including the Bible.)
There is some irony though. When a book gets banned it often (although not always) results in increased sales. It did for "Genderqueer" and Kobabe now has a new book deal with Scholastic for release 2025. Good job bigots.
So you would be good with more pic books that depict taking it in the 💩er in grade school libraries, maybe like hustler or playboy?
Banning books for teenagers kind of cracks me up. Like, teenagers aren't little children anymore, they're savvy enough on the internet to bypass any parental block. Banning books is probably the best advertisement for these books...
The only reason I read Catcher in the Rye as a teen was because it was banned so many times and all the controversy surrounding it made me curious about its contents
I don't know many teenagers that are still in grade school...
@@travisdoe4663 a pretty solid chunk of the complaints that have been filed regarding this book, were done against high school libraries, not grade school.
If course, if you buy the "Moms for Liberty" propaganda line, they always use the term "children", hoping you'll imagine a class of little first graders, who are having this book read aloud to them on a daily basis by some blue-haired lib teacher, and required to write a book report afterward.
That's intentional, of course. Because if they told you that most of the students whose parents complained about Gender Queer were actually high school seniors who went looking for it, and checked the book out of the library because they _wanted_ to read it (for *some* reason 🤔)... Then you might realize how ridiculous and bigoted this whole moral panic truly is.
That doesn’t change the fact that soft core porn should not be allowed in schools. How can you defend these types of books being in school?
I literally got an anti-trans documentary ad in the middle of this video. I'm glad they're wasting their advertising money on me
To address a bias you didn't hit on/answer the pressing question: Many adults think comic books are for kids, like how many think animation is for kids, and many children's comics and picture books strongly resemble the art (abstract, colorful) that is inside this particular book. If something looks like a children's book, people not reading the book's content are definitely not going to think about checking target age for it -- so I fully condemn what's happening, but not super surprised this particular book is getting slammed as hard as it is, because it's a textbook example of "Don't judge a book by its cover."
I guess the problem here is that more people need to learn that not every cartoon or comic is made for kids.
its like how shows like american dad and family guy have easy to watch animation but are still adult shows but when I was younger I was watching peter griffin bloodied up fighting a chicken man and of course thats not age appropriate but my parents knew in the world I will see things like that so they decided to at least show a tame version. but people are now attacking shows like steven universe for "forcing lgbt" even though yes its made for children but it doesn't show anything explicit, parents need to stop forcing their ideologies onto children and allow them to understand and digest media discussing "mature" topics (ik the comment is abit wish-washy but yeah)
Except this colorfully illustrated book That depicts scenes of anal sex among other things is available in grade school libraries, that's 5-11 year olds...
Having this book in an elementary or middle school is absolutely wrong. And disgusting. Why in the world do we need to sexualize children at such a young age?
It wasn't in elementary or middle schools. It's for high schools.
I'm so happy to see your channel grow and have videos related to the very real issues surrounding LGBTQ people. Commenting now before finishing the video to boost the algorithm.
Thanks for your ongoing support 💖
Me too 🤗
There's a difference in age for sure. As a teen, I read a lot of John Green's books and they were in the Young Adult section
Great video. If it really was about "pornography" defenders of banning lgbt books would bring attention to actual pornography from free sites of which teenagers are one of the biggest consumers. Even kids let's say before age 12 get confronted with pornography intentionally or unintentionally due to it being so incredibly easy to access, either them coming across it themselves or receiving it through their smartphones from peers.
In the mid 2000s when I was around 10 years my classmates were openly talking about internet pornography, and now we have smartphones that parents don't have control over. But the parents in this video making a fuss about these books...I feel they're looking for something in order to attack a group because of their ideas they strongly disagree with. If it was truly about pornography, they would put priority on the actual hardcore material that's easily accessible online and not these books that don't come ANYWHERE close to that! The comparison between Gender Queer and Penthouse is laughable!
Yeah. It's just a bigoted double standard
Straight nudity: "fine"
LGBT people existing: "sexual! not fit for kids!"
It’s honestly sad how rarely this gets discussed
Porn is already banned at schools. These are two different issues. One is internet access outside of schools and the other is about internet and book access inside schools.
@@superjlk_9538 it happens on the internet and in books inside schools yes, but is there a compelling reason for a state to basically impose censorship by outright banning this book and similar ones in all schools including middle and even high schools while we're talking about relatively mild material? I don't think so.
@@MrtyjrYes it is because just like banning porn and any material that contains sexually explicit content (though some may find MILD-- Srsly? Wtf 🤨🤨) should not be an exception just because it's tagged LGBT. And they're not banning it due to that but the graphic content. To say that it doesn't deserve to be banned for any OTHER reason is minimizing the issue behind it. Just because some children may be exposed to sex earlier on, doesn't make it appropriate for any school to allow this. Why should they? Because sex has been NORMALIZED and it represents the pride community? I REPEAT: Graphic sexual content. Any books that have that regardless of it being straight or gay is NOT for a school library.
By that county prosecutors logic you might as well just ban all books for adults as a child could mistakingly pick it up and read it 🤦
Exactly! Makes no sense 🤷♂️
That happened to me in middle school. I picked a book from the “adult romance” section of my local bookstore to give to my friend as a gift. She later told me it was very explicit (i didn't know this) and teased me about it but we both had a good laugh and moved on. She even said she liked the book overall.
Some adults might be surprised by how well kids can handle “inappropriate” topics and even seek them out, like another kid I knew who was into 18+ horror movies.
@@guihuppe This book literally has CP in it. It's disgusting and you're all disgusting for supporting it.
I've only heard bad things about this book and couldn't believe it. The misinformation being spread about it was insane. I'm glad you've made a video on this.
As a ciswoman I've never really understood what it meant to be genderqueer but I can still respect those who are. I realized I don't need to understand all the nuances and complexities of it to know that it is a valid identity. It's always confused me but it seems like this book would help me understand it better. It's been added to my reading list!
I agree, it is totally worth adding to your collection!
The sad thing is you cannot have constructive conversations with most of the people who believe the rhetoric of politicians it goes both ways but especially on the right leaning side of the American right leaning political system.
the guy saying to ban it from a high school has never heard teenagers talk about that sort of thing all the time
To be fair middle schoolers are kinda considered "early teens" by most. So still a teen.
indeed. the stuff i heard in high school would be something to give them a heart attack.
If books with (apparently) graphic / sexual content in the adult section is a danger to children, then every single book with graphic / sexual content that's *technically* within reach of children should be banned, if this is the logic they want to go with, they're going to have to follow through, or concede, or y'know, just act like there's no issue, legislate it away, and move on to the next artificial issue.
Exactly! By that politicians own logic, library's should be made up of ONLY children's books, because any book not deemed appropriate for children could possibly be opened up by a child.
@@dragongirl89115 This is the same logic UA-cam uses too, which fucking sucks, we all have to abide to the whims of children that *shouldn't even fucking be here* to get paid, even when there's literally a button that says "this isn't for kids".
@@BustyCatbotthen you should have no issue banning the book from elementary and middle school libraries/curriculum
@@superjlk_9538 I think you misunderstood my comment, and didn't watch the video, the book isn't even made for kids, it was never meant to be in the curriculum, nobody is trying to put it *in* the curriculum, that's what the anti-LGBTQ+ are *saying* we're doing, when we aren't.
Which is WHY the ban is legitimate. Not just this type of book but ANY book containing sexually graphic material. If this book contained ONLY TEXT, NO IMAGES, maybe it wouldn't draw so much attention unlike your regular adult romance novels, but the fact that it does, and it appears to be a kid-friendly INFORMATIVE book is grounds for criticism, and certainly deserves it.
Something that really bothers me about this whole situation is how all of the things that these lawmakers are spouting absolutely doesn’t apply to books with hetero characters. Like, when I was a middle schooler, I was able to grab Pretty Little Liars off of my school’s library shelves, and in that book, all of the main four girls do some pretty sexual stuff, but no one really cares about that because three out of the four main girls are straight. No one considers that to be grooming (even though one of the girls literally has a sexual relationship with a teacher).
Yep. The strategy is to make lgbtq+ = adult content so they can erase lgbtq+ stories and people from public life.
Show me the page where pretty liars has a anal sex scene explicintly drawn
fascinating, isn't it? It's because they were all anti-LGBT. the books with any hetero characters get a pass because they don't care. Indeed it was never about porn or erotica.
I think the difference is because it’s a graphic novel “showing” sexual acts, vs a novel “describing” sexual acts.
personal prediction: i dont think its that bad. the reason its hated is mostly from people who haven't read it and are transphobic af.
People just look at the one page where they have s3x and hate on it because of that
@@yourpalcork i know first impressions are important, but deciding to hate a book just on the first page alone is kinda dumb imo
@@typhoonboom Its all about banning everything that runs counter to the cishet gender binary narrative.
@@arahman56 this is very much not surprising
The part that people have the most issue with lasts a page or less, is not framed in any particularly titillating way, and actually acts as a good and healthy example of someone revoking eir consent and eir partner immediately stopping without complaint.
I don’t believe parents deserve any ownership over their children. I am against the idea of “parents rights”, because it always comes down to a parent’s right to control their child. Someone should not have a right to control you or abuse you because you are their child, but that is what it comes down to. Children are human beings and deserve their rights to be protected and defended. Trans kids grow into trans adults, no amount of harsh or cruel parenting is going to get that to change. We need to start defending kids against their parents. The Christian kids have it extra bad, with their parents forcing the public world to censor itself to aide in the brainwashing of their children.
It's really nice to see such an honest look and take on the book since i've heard a lot about it but didn't know much.
I'm very glad you made this video talking about the misunderstandings with the book and how much it can mean to a lot of people.
Your videos are always getting better, i really love your setup and enjoy listening to your voice. And i know that you'll make it to the stars
Aaaaaw thanks for your support 💖 Always happy to read your kind feedback in the comments section!
@@guihuppe You're very welcome
Can't wait to buy the book! Wooo. 🏳🌈
I read this book pretty quickly after it was released and had no idea that there was any controversy about it. Sad that folks are stirring up BS and hopefully that means folks will seek it out.
I am highly against banning a book outright as that would be an attack on freedom of speech. However Game of Thrones and shows like it are not appropriate for teenagers. If a parent wants to allow their kids to watch shows like that it is their right as a parent. Other parents should not be trying to raise other people's kids and that should go both ways. Any book with any sexual content should not be available to children without the consent of their parents. So if the book has sexual content in it, then it should not be kept on high school shelves, or at least require parental consent before their child is permitted to check-out the book.
Seeing someone outside of the queer community respecting someones neopronouns is quite uncommon. It feels so refreshing seeing someone respecting them, especially so casually.
think the possessive might be "eir" and not "eirs" but idk
edit: ah yeah you fixed that later on nvm then
I'll also say that there's obviously an extreme double standard here considering the amount of violent/sexual media that nobody is rushing to ban. Not very fun.
I read this comic recently and thought it was very good. I am non-binary and I related to some parts of the author’s experiences. Especially there is one part where the author uses a set of scales as a metaphor for gender and i deeply related to that bit.
I would say this book is very frank and honest about sexuality, and there is some nudity and sex scenes, however I wouldn’t say its really more explicit than some other stuff I read as a teenager. In high school, I remember my high school library had the comic Invincible. That comic has a lot of graphic violence, some nudity and sex scenes and even a scene where a character is r@ped. But because all the sex is heterosexual, I haven't really seen the same kind of backlash trying to ban that comic to “protect the kids”. People need to realize, kids aren’t as fragile as some people think. I read the comic Maus, a comic about the horrors of the Holocaust, when I was in high school. I think I would have survived seeing some nudity.
I LOVE GETTING EDUCATED
WE LOVE LEARNING ABOUT TOPICS WE ARE UNFAMILLIAR WITH
WE LOVE ACQUIRING NEW KNOWLEDGE
WE LOVE SEEING NEW THINGS
I am not a fan of any sex book in the library. Of any grade.
The first time i met a trans adult was when i was 18, afterwards i sat at the train platform and cried. Realising that until then i hadnt actually considered that i could grow old hit like a truck. Visibility is so important. Knowing that people like you exist for all ages is life saving
so important ❤️️
Did you feel the same way when you met your first person with schizophrenia?
You cover things so well and you always seem so cheerful in your videos when talking about these things, it's a real breath of fresh air with everything going on! I think that it should be up to the kids what they want to read, except for if it's like explicit or adult content or whatever but talking about gender identity and sexuality shouldn't be a bad thing and I think it would actually help a lot of kids to either understand themselves better, understand others better or even just understand the struggles of queer people. Edit thing I guess: I realize how this sounds so I'm gonna rephrase, gender and sexuality on it's own is fine for kids to read about and they're putting this book in the adult section because it is for adults, not kids. Kids should be able to decide if they wanna read about little Susan going to middle school and realizing she might be queer (Idk), that's harmless content safe for kids.
I'm okay with this book being at any public library, except school libraries, where parents would have zero control over whether their kids read it. Gender ideology is a belief system, not based in any science or objective truth (essentially a religion), and I believe parents should decide what ideologies their kids get involved in or even read about. This shouldn't be complicated.
Bs, it's backed up by both sociology and biology. The core of it is based on the difference of gender and sex. Which is scientifically. Calling it an idealogy is ignorance.
@@goobmightthere is no difference between gender and sex
Exactly, well said
@@superjlk_9538 Except there is? Sex is biological and decided based on primary sexual characteristics to the extent that works, gender is a social construct working alongside gender expression.
There is nothing in one's sex assigned at birth that deems things such as makeup, dresses and long hair to be a thing exclusively for women or that short hair and suits are only for men. That's something society made out to be the social norm in more recent times.
High heels are a great example. At some point in history, high heels was associated with being worn by men, often higher class. Then in later years it was seen as someting "only women can wear." And this can also apply to makeup, wigs, the colour pink.
Only like 100 or so years ago, newborn boys were swaddled in pink and girls in blue before it suddenly reversed.
@@emrose3308 gender is not a social construct. It’s tied to sex
I read this book at a perfect time exactly a year ago, somehow I was going through or just gone through a similar gynecology visit that went better than the book, because of consent and it made me not feel alone in hoping others in that situation (which I bet is much more common than people think) options and discussions
Reading this book changed my life; it felt like reading a book written about me. I have always struggled to relate to characters (real or fictional) in books, so this book felt almost eerie in its relatability.
Every new page, I was flashing back to specific moments in my life where I felt similar things and had similar thoughts. Any self-doubt that I’m non-binary has left me.
Thank you for addressing how some folks review media they haven't consumed, how that review lacks a more rounded perspective.
Drive a vehicle, get married at age over 16, then people older than 16 should be available to read or watch anything? Below 16 then with parents permission?
It’s a wonder to me that you are largely undiscovered. Your intellectual honesty and ability to create comprehensive, informative content is to be commended. I wish you the very best, and I hope you continue to do great things.
I think that it is quite ironic how the same people preaching "facts and logic" and "facts don't care about your feelings" spread such a ridiculous conspiracy theory fuelled by hatred as LGBTQIA+ existing to groom children. You could say they mean "facts don't care about your feelings! They only care about mine!" and just never say the second part. Btw, je parle le français, mais je ne suis pas très bon en ça(that last part after pas was with help from google translate. Would've done it like that anyway, but if wrong, then blame google, please). Qu'est-ce que "beef labeling supervision duties transfer act(ou "Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" en allemand)" en français?(I just wanted to say something in french idk)
It seems to me you may have misspoken. The phrase "Adults Only" in America often refers to pornography. I don't believe any American libraries have an "Adults Only" section. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
Possible - English is my 2nd language.
@@guihuppe I figured. Merci beaucoup!
In my experience (which is pretty limited to be fair), there are distinct children’s, teens’, and adults’ sections, but there are no rules barring folks from checking out materials from any of those sections. If a parent wishes to curate the material their child consumes, they must actively participate by either going to the library with their kid or checking their kid’s selections at home.
@@kyoyameganebereznoffI’m pretty sure a parent has to be present for a child to check out a book at the library. At least that’s what I remember
Wonderful video! I absolutely love that you made a point to read the book. Back in 2019, when I checked Genderqueer out from my library it really helped me learn from a lived experience, and it introduced me to neopronouns- both things that have really stuck with me throughout the years. I was 18 at the time, but from the age of 13 onward, I would intentionally look for all the LGBT+ books in my public library. I learned how to utalize the electronic library system search so I could find them all. These books made me feel less alone, and more connected to community. I feel represented extremely rarely as someone who is Asexual, demiromantic and sapphic, but I was always searching. From that perspective, its so cool to see books like Genderqueer representing an experience that is also marginalized within the marginalized and under-if at all- represented experience.
I do agree that the book shouldn't be banned from a public library, that's pretty ridiculous. Just don't bring your little children to a public library if you plan to let them wander adult sections unsupervised. But I don't think there's anything wrong with removing the book from school libraries, even high school ones. When I was in high school, I read SO much from our school library, including a ton of romance novels (I may or may not have been a little bit obsessed lol). And never did I find anything that had even an ounce of explicit sexual content. That was just not a thing back then (and I'm a millennial who is BARELY older than the first Gen Z-ers, it wasn't THAT long ago that I was in high school).
In my opinion, explicit sexual content should be more of an "opt-in" thing rather than an "opt-out" thing for parents raising teenagers. And so by default, schools should not provide any material with graphic sexual content that's freely open to all students. But if a parent wants their teenage kid to be exposed to Gender Queer, they could always pick it up at a book store or at a public library. I think that's how it ought to be handled.
Your response to Thinking Critical’s video at the end up of the video is very mature and well put together. If everyone was able to take those small steps towards a healthy discourse on any controversial topic the world would be in a lot better place I think.
I agree that it shouldn't be banned from the adult section of public libraries, but school libraries hardly seems the place for such sexual material as is featured... An 11 year old apparently found the book on display in their school library, unless I misunderstood what happened... Children may not be being forced to read it, but putting it in a public and visible place for them to encounter it, without supervision, is arguably also inappropriate... Maybe even with supervision... I think it's important for children between the ages of 11 and 16 to get some sexual education, but I say to keep it brief and to the basic, important stuff... Let them work out anything else by themselves and over time, of their own volition.
I do think that maybe it could be reasonable for a 14 year old to be allowed to read it, although waiting until 16 might be wiser... That said, still not sure that a school is the right place... And in the UK we have secondary school that covers the 11 to 16 age range, so it's probably unreasonable to expect that an 11 year old wouldn't find it unless you have a restricted section, which I don't think most do... That said, I don't know if school libraries are used as much these days...
I do agree that maybe he should have read the book... That said, if your argument is about the explicit elements being inappropriate for a library or something, providing that he has seen that objectionable material, I'm not sure the rest matters... In regards to indoctrinating kids with ideology or something, he might need to read it first... Although there is the argument that, depending on the children, that anything focusing in depth on sexuality could be a bad idea, especially before 14 or whatever, regardless of knowing the content, although that's more of a stretch... It does seem that children with conditions like autism seem to be particularly at risk of being confused by overexposure to this stuff though... It may be why I went through a phase around 16 when I was finally able to explore sexual content online more freely...
But yeah, I say definitely ban it from school libraries... Public libraries should be fine, especially if properly age restricted... But it certainly seems inappropriate for schools, except maybe high schools, although I'm not sure... Would other books with explicit sexual content be suitable? Like 50 Shades of Grey or something? I dunno... I don't think I'd be against people over 16 reading it, but I also don't think school is the place for it...
The book " Gender Queer " is a memoir talking about the authors life as a non-binary teen. The book is only about the authors experience and hence I don't think it needs to be banned in school libraries. High school libraries can choose to display this book as some children may want to educate themselves about the LGBT community or for queer kids who want to understand other people who have faced the same problem as them.
Teens often get into relationships and sometimes these turn Sexual. Talking about this topic and reducing stigma around such issues is more beneficial for society
I think the book itself and topic is perfectly fine... but the image of oral sex to me is a bit too much to be in schools. I thought from the beginning of the video that this book was in an adult only section of a library but then later you show that its in the school library. I dont think that is appropriate... again the majority of the book is absolutely fine im only referring to the oral sex scene. I dont like that both sides are stubborn on this... those pages could easily be edited for age appropriate reading... there could be an uncensored version and PG 13 version available. I dont understand why that isnt even an option.
Most high schoolers have seen something like porn or playboy, so it’s fine for it to be in high schools
@@mobcrusher99even middle schoolers know what sex and porn is to the point of being able to name the actors
It's better to teach them safe consensual sex
Acting like they know nothing helps no one
I agree with you. I don't really care if most teens have already seen pornograpy. It's just the principle of it
I wouldn't say Gender Queer doesn't depict anything that high schoolers are already familiar with in some way or another, except for LGBTQ+ topics.
When I purchased this book I noticed it was in the adult section for graphic novels. Turns out, thirty-nine percent (pages 1-95) of this book discusses life under eighteen years of age. Page 96- 239 contains graphic adult sex acts, written descriptions of sex acts, stranger sex and where to get it, product placements for adult books, adult websites, sex toys and sex stores, finding sexual partners in the workplace.. etc... In my mind, there is so little in this book at a person under the age of eighteen can relate to - it is inappropriate for schools.
Banning overtly sexual books for kids (far beyond sex ed and anatomy, periods, etc. )is different than banning books in general It's so profoundly dishonest.
I just want to thank you for responding to all these lies, especially from dishonest husks like Thinking Critical, in a calm and empathetic tone. It's very difficult to stay calm and try to have a conversation when the people on the other side are so obviously unprincipled and motivated. But it's very important to get this message out there in such dangerous times
I really agree that you need to read/watch something before you can analyze it. I did a group project in high school about Florida's 1557 house bill (aka the "Don't Say Gay" bill). I had to tell my classmates to actually read it before they started the project.
As someone who’s dad work in a library. Putting manga and graphic novels in the kid section instead of adult/YA is more common than you think
Thank you for taking the time to do this unbiased review of the book. I had an argument the other day with a friend who was talking about this book being prevalent in elementary schools and needing to be banned yada yada yada. So I wanted to know more about this subject, and actually, read the book. This video was my first step before reading the book. Thank you for presenting it as you have.
Thanks Dan! ✨
These are people who insist that all graphic novels and animation are intended for kids. They can't fathom that someone would choose the graphic novel format for writing their memoir because they see everything in that format as "comic strip" style simple picture stories for kids. So it's really easy to lie to them and get them worked up about Genderqueer "targeting" their kids. They need to read Maus, they need to read Watchmen and The Boys lol
It’s because the book is being assigned to children’s curriculum
As I understand, the amount of nudity in media is moreso a severely limited topic in most English TV compared with most other language options, due to the united states death grip on English media and the puritanicalism of their politics. This is not to say all are more free with depictions, but from what ive seen and heard it does seem to be one of the most restrictive. If unaware, it might be worth checking the Hayes code for more info about the manner and timeframe of explicit restrictions on Hollywood's output, cause while it is responsible for the restriction of queer content, it locked up quite a few other topics also. (I do not remember specifics off the top of my head but it shouldn't be too hard to find)
when I was a kid I wasn't allowed in adult book stores unlike today's kids who's parents seem to let them do what they want. I'm tired of a few adults not taking responsibility for their responsibilities aka kids & blaming others when something happens to their kids...
yo gui!!! i stumbled upon your videos on gender recently and I have to say you're so well spoken and funny (and well dressed of course). when i saw you went to arQuives and glad day for your research i smiled so big, while i don't go to the village as much as I want to, GD is one of my favorite places in the city and I have felt nothing short of welcome when spending time and chatting with staff. It makes me proud to be here. I hope with awareness surrounding banned books, we will conclude that knowledge and education is power. the system is notorious for going after less-than-traditional perspectives over history, if we learned anything from that its that the population asks for change and revolution when they are aware. banning books is a side-effect of a government that doesn't want its citizens to question the way it works.
thank you for being you 💕
I got this book for christmas from my aunt this year?? I read it all that morning and it seems like a pretty normal thing i'd see online, i don't see why people are so upset that it is published physically
i found this book very touching as a twenty-something genderqueer person. i agree that it seems good for teenagers and older. as a teen i saw and read plenty of sexual things that were not nearly as thoughtful those in Gender Queer. thank you for a great thorough video, and i really appreciate you putting in the effort to use Maia's pronouns.
Thank you so much for this video! This felt like a great unbiased video on the subject, which i feel like so many news outlets dont give. This really helped me form an unbiased opinion.
Fantastic video, Gui!!! your empathy and honesty is very nice. the way you analyze situations is something special.
Amazing video, Gui!!!
Merci 💕👏
This book was never banned.
So sick of them
Excellent coverage of the book and all the ignorance surrounding it! Thank you for a full and proper deep dive into the content of the book along with your insights into the haters/ban promoters of the book. Much appreciated.
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for your feedback 🎉
This was a really good and nuanced video. I am absolutely on the political right, but I believe banning or censorship is not the way to go. You should be exposed to multiple opinions and you should never get stuck in an echo chamber.
Kids don't need this in a school. But they can buy it and read it at home.
This book is not for kids.
@@guihuppe
This book is in my child’s school, my child is 11 years old.
@@educational1651is this the book's fault or the library's?
ok i read the book and i got to say, "what in the world are these people talking about?" Sure there's some nudity and some sexual act but extremely few that it's hardly pornographic and all this stuff about "pushing ideology on kids" is laughable! It's just the author's life trying to explain their journey to finding themselves. Sorry for using they I am not even sure because I'm not into this whole pronoun thing. Not trying to be disrespectful. but yeah, this book is only meant for older teens and this is just ridiculous, it's not evil or pushing any agenda and most certainly hardly porn at all! and the only reason people are getting upset over this is because it's an LGBT book. Just bigotry disguised as "concerned about some porno in children's schools."
Im a biological female adult who is closeted genderqueer...
Thanks for sharing 💟
Crazy how the outrage was entirely made up. Wow
For me is not appropriate for school child..public library yes, i support book in library in adult section.
That Book in School library is like Game of Thrones at 10am after Ponny show or Paw Patrol… if you had library only access for people over 14 i believe you.. can put library school
Im honestly just so tired of the “protect the children” argument, grooming is a relatively very small issue and we already have laws against that stuff, obviously the argument is intended to shift the situation to something everyone already agrees with but there are so many actual issues america should be putting there collective effort into fixing that all of this just makes me sad
There are so many more important things to worry about right now, like our infrastructure, polarization and rural urban divide, The wealth inequality and segregation and gentrification SO many areas are dealing with, even if we just want to “protect the children” we should probably focus on school shooting underfunded schools and abusive teachers right now, i mean hell grooming IS a problem in many schools, but ill bet you anything most of the abuse is coming from straight white guys
Im just annoyed at all this
i could not agree more!
@@Kitsunetim just reread my comment, saying grooming is “a relatively very small issue” is pretty offensive considering grooming isn’t about numbers but the psychological impact of grooming
It reasonable to care about it more then rural urban divide that was an offensive implication from me my bad
But underfunded schools? Yeah, if you want to “protect the children” maybe start there
As someone who haven't seen queer books as a chlid but I discord only when I started reading English books and I felt so much less alnoe
So does it have sexually explicit images and wording or not?
That video at the end about sums up the average conservative podcast.
This is crazy! School districts have an obligation to ban this book. If this is not about programming children, why is the LGBTQ-P (don’t forget the P) so focused on kids? Why do trans men want to show their junk to kids?
Let me guess, you don't mean Pansexual when you say P 😑
Why are you so adamant about it not being banned
Watch the video
First vid I saw from you and you just got a new subscriber.
thanks 💗💗💗
Not for CHILDREN
Did you even watch the video? Apparently not.
@@emrose3308 I did. Also read the book. Not for kids. Not everything is for children.
@@research1586 So you just purposefully ignored the part of the video, where the book on most if not all sites are rated *18 and up*?
@@emrose3308 Me literally saying "Not for children" is not me not ignoring anything. It's my own statement. It's not for children. Go push your delusions on someone else, I'm reporting you ya delusional troll.
there was legit a page where they show corn that is why it was banned
8:30 Using a Whopper as a justification for not consuming media you're criticizing is stupid, you *should* go eat a Whopper to know how it tastes, that's how assessing literally anything works, you can get anecdotes, and form an opinion based on them, but don't express that opinion as if you're fully informed on the subject, because by definition, you are not.
Great review
Thanks ✨🤩
@@guihuppe you're welcome
I love you man. You’ve got such a great energy. Keep up the good work. I’m learning a lot from your videos
🤩 thanks 👏👏👏
Sickening book.
💅 sickening honey
This book is disgusting... What a trash section of youtube
did you read it
@@epic.6608 unfortunately yes
@@tpola3648 so what exactly do you think is disgusting about it?
@@epic.6608 The depiction of children sex acts and recommending sex toys to young kids. This is disgusting. If you think otherwise than you also are disgusting.
I'm sorry. This all confuses the shit out of me. I don't get the e/ em/ eir whatever pronouns at all.
Could all just be yourselves without intensely labeling it. Its okay for women to be masculine, and men to be feminine, etc etc.
As someone who uses ey/em and other NEOS... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR USING THEM CORRECTLY FOR EM. LIKE I HAD SUCH AN AMAZING SMILE ON MY FACE
💖
🤢
❄️
شهر جهنم
You can also find out who you are by reading the Bible. In fact you’ll find out more about who you are reading the Bible.
maybe for you.
oh i read the bible, and it made me into an atheist.
I still don’t understand why the writer insists on showing us the yellow pee on the grass. 3:28
Or this 👉 4:06 ewww!
Strange choices.
Where the heck is the EDITOR?
It's already a book about sexuality that apparently gets explicit at times, so how is showing pee going too far?
>yellow pee
Is your urine red?
Because it's for adults and the writer is relaying their own experiences. If that grosses you out, don't read it.
@@dragongirl89115 Must we see the YELLOW of the pee, or the RED of the period blood??? That adds nothing to an otherwise worthy book, IMO.
Those are normal bodily functions.
LGBTQ fascism will be crushed kid
😴
امي تجي وحده تطلعون في نار جهنم
Let me sum this all up for you guys:
If the target audience was highschools taking a healthclass it would have received less flak. The fact this was being targeted for age groups 10 and under it became DOA.
Let's just chalk this to: Leave children alone
Also teenage years are usually ages 13 and up so this book was NOT aimed at teens
It was outright stated in the video and in the places the book was or is available that the book is not aimed at kids around 10. Did you not even watch the video?
@@Mika_Lors what you say and what has been caught at schools are two different realities.
I am pretty open minded about the trans subject, if you are an adult it is your body and noone has a right to tell you no.
But if you want something like this in a school, my compromise is to keep it within the health ed clasroom and keep it out of anyone under 13 years old. Maybe change up the art style so it doesn't look like it is for children.
Then maybe have some public outcry by the trans community when teachers get caught doing stuff like taking kids to a gay bar as a field trip?
Just saying went it comes to the creeper situation we track those on the right, but noone is willing to cast down the ones hiding behind the rainbow flag.
It begins:
"In 2013, when I was 24, I headed for San Francisco to begin my master's degree in comics."
The book itself is a comic. The writer studied graphic novels i.e. comics, not how to BE a comic.
You DO know that, right? You wouldn't just PRETEND to be smart and spew out all those comments, right?
I think we know the answer based on you brushing off other people with more freedom and depth of thought than you as "hippies", rattling off a knee-jerk list of colourful descriptors like "snake-loving". What were you trying to convey with that one. What does that mean. You hate snakes? You hate people who don't hate snakes???
Do you not understand the basic definitions of the word "comic"? As there's more than one way to define comics.
why doesn't e use we instead of I ? That would remind everbody immediately that he/she are not the correct pronouns.
SHE HER HER HERS HERSELF
HE HIM HIS HIS HIMSELF
zie zim zir zis zieself
sie sie hir hirs hirself
ey em eir eirs eirself
ve ver vis vers verself
tey ter tem ters terself
e em eir eirs emself
Not sure if these gender neutral/inclusice pronouns will ever become mainstream.
There is a gender neutral pronoun..... good old IT. Unfortunately it has a bad reputation since the movie Silence of the Lambs
'It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told or else it gets the hose again.... now it places the lotion in the basket"
You are welcome to use whatever pronouns you want, you seem to put a lot of thoughts into it!
What do you mean by saying that he/she are not correct pronouns?
Because "we" isn't well known as gender neutral or LGBT+ pronouns yet?