banned books + rainbow capitalism: rupaul's disaster book club
time to drag a drag queen....?
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Chapters
00:00 introduction
00:38 celebrity book clubs
02:25 rupaul launches a bookstore
04:18 the amazon book selling model
06:31 rupaul’s bookstore controversy
10:53 squarespace [ad]
11:46 backlash to rupaul’s bookstore
14:23 rupaul’s bookstore apologises
15:13 the rise of book banning
18:50 rainbow capitalism
21:18 rupaul’s book “the house of hidden meanings”
23:13 rupaul’s fight against banned books
24:12 trans rights readathon recs
24:57 conclusion
FAQs:
😭 what happened to your intro? it got copyrighted ://///
🤠 how old are you? 25!
📆 when is your birthday? 18th october 1998 (libra)
🎓 where did you go to university? i studied english at durham!
🔎 where do you live? new york city
💼 what is your job? book critic
🎥 what do you film with? lumix gh5 + canon g7x
👾 what do you use to edit? final cut pro
📫 how do I contact you? jackedwards@sixteenth.co or social media!
sub count:
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okay, opinion from a librarian - a bookstore is not a library, and has no obligation to have a wide range of materials on all topics from all perspectives (within their collection policies, which is a whole other conversation). A bookstore is a privately owned business, while a library is not. Therefore, someone not selling a certain title in a bookstore cannot be banning books, anymore than McDonalds not selling sushi is them banning sushi. The end. That said, a private company purporting to be a safe space, and then doing this is not okay.
"within their collection policies, which is a whole other conversation" -- meaning you want to hide the hypocrisy in a "whole other conversation?"
@@donjindra nope, but collection policies are based on what kind of library you are talking about. A public library and a college library will have different collection development policies. A university with a heavy STEM focus won't have a large literature collection, and a college that has a women and gender studies degree will make sure their collection reflects the resources those students need. I'm not sure where there is hypocrisy in that?
@@imasisara And who decides "the resources those students need?" The "collection policy" is whatever the librarian and management choose it to be.
@@donjindra....kinda? as someone who has both read and written collection development policies, however, they are purposefully broad and cover things like the type of material (print, electronic, media, etc.) involved, what subject areas that particular library supports, etc. They include lines like "to ensure relevance to evolving instructional, curricular, and research needs." And again, that is a line specific to academia, so public libraries or special libraries or archives will all have different purposes. Any library, or archive, cannot collect everything. It's not possible. I'm happy to debate the purpose of these policies, and I won't argue that a few (in my personal experience) may use these policies in bad faith, but calling them a hypocrisy for existing in the first place? Yeah, no, that's incredibly inaccurate.
@@donjindra Also, apparently my wonky internet didn't actually include the entirety of what I was trying to say with my initial comment - I am not arguing that what this bookstore did is okay. I'm just being a bit pedantic about the use of "banning books" by conservatives - a bookstore can specialize in whatever area they want. A bookstore, by definition, cannot be banning books by choosing to only sell LGBTQIA+ material.
as a video essay girlie, i really love that you've started to do them because there isn't a lot within the literature genre and you do them so well! yippee!
that's so kind of you to say!! thank you for watching!!
Do you know 'the book Leo' on KZhead? If not, you might wanna check out her video essays :)
@@maika0395I love her videos!!
I also really enjoy 'according to alina' a lot. If you're interested in bookish discourse, I very strongly recommend giving her a watch
Jack I really love these video essay types of videos where you speak about issues like this!! Keep up the great work you’re the best
rupaul is a capitalist before anything else and you can kinda see that in his every action lmfao
Yeah, the fracking should've given people a heads up on this lol
An opportunist. His stated goal was to be famous no matter what. That already tells me about his integrity, more like a lack there of.
This. 🤧
Kinda?? Lol, more than kinda
That's so true. You can be a woman, a POC, LGBT, disabled ... and still be part of the toxicity of wealth.
Selling anti-LGBT+ books in a supposedly safe space for the community because it is important to have access to this kind of thought is like selling vegetables in a candy shop because people should have a balanced diet
wow that's a great analogy
Really good way of creating an echo chamber though don’t you think? Yes there are some obvious no gos like mein kampf, but who gets to decide that something is good or bad. I feel like a lot of the gender debate is seriously not scientific consensus, wouldn’t you rather have access to the truth, even if in a particular case it may be hypothetically different to your current outlook?
Is having candy stores stopping people from eating vegetables and creating an echo chamber from fruits and veg???? obvs 😂 not sooo how you pitch yourself matters. Also, its hardly like you can't get the pdf of Hitlers work any old where
@@Pokjhbvcfit’s not an echo chamber but a specialty store. People don’t just go to specialty bookstores just they like they don’t do all their shopping at tutti frutti. There are bookstores specializing in cooking books, speculative fiction, non-fiction, etc, etc. Retailers are not echo chambers because they just sell product. Would you call a video game store an echo chamber because they don’t sell books?
@@adorabell4253 no that’s completely different, videos and books are completely different products. my point is who gets to decide what is an acceptable book and what is not. Using the example of Abigail shrier, if you were a young person questioning your gender and only had access to books saying ‘you’re definitely trans, you should transition’ that may not be the right course of action. Surely you’d want to see all the arguments even if you disagree with a lot of them ,to properly evaluate your situation.
I genuinely feel bad for the original founders of the company. But they shouldn’t have expanded so quickly. I’m glad they’re going back to what they intended in the first place.
In my opinion, it’s clear that they were motivated by greed. They changed their whole model and philosophy when a rich capitalist offered them a lot of money. They should have seen the red flags from miles away, they should have been overseeing all of the decisions. They wanted to be rich and successful and they betrayed their vision for it, literally selling out
This is so sad. Rupaul destroyed these guys livelihood. They were probably so happy to have his support and now…. They’re probably going to start completely over or rebuild their credibility
He's destroyed a lot of lives by exploiting people as desperate to be famous as he was.
tbf i think the rainbow bus will make or break their site bc they have the HUGE opportunity of pinning all of it on rupaul
Maybe the public should understand it was rupaul who is damaging the brand and not the original owners.
Probably true, but it’s not like these men didn’t agree to RuPaul coming in as a shareholder, they knew by letting him in the company would be undergoing significant changes
@@ScollopQuackI don’t think they thought that meant putting Mein Kampf in their store
I think that reading literature from all side, whether you agree or not, is important. However, selling them in a space that is supposed to be LGBTQ+ positive and safe it gross.
Me*n K*mph might be useful for understanding how white supremacy operates as well as historical insight, but I agree it was wildly inappriopriate what ru did.
Exactly what I thought! We need to learn about our enemy, and it's important to have access to those books, and reading them and study them from a conscious perspective. But, gurl, what was RuPaul thinking 😩.
@@LennethValkyrie Honest to goodness, right?
@@lordfreerealestate8302 yes but you can get book like that from anywhere else - these book stores are specialty stores and private businesses, not public resources like a library. its like complaining that a vegan café doesnt sell ham sandwiches and dairy products
I think it’s necessary. Why would u want to shied urself from the other side? Having both viewpoints can help u strengthen ur own beliefs. We can’t live in echo chambers and not expect others to have a different opinion than u.
The point is obviously not that these books should be banned or these books should not be read or whatever but rather that a place, which is meant to be a safe space for queer people, where they expect to be able to read whatever books they want without finding mentions of xenophobia, SHOULD have done better.
Hi, so I have only ever heard xenophobia as hatred/fear of immigrants and foreigners so perhaps you meant something else like homophobia or transphobia?
Mein Kampf especially should be and is banned in Germany except for annotated editions, which is the right way to go in my opinion. I agree with you that it should not be swept under the rug however it should not be left uncommented, therefore selling an „original“ version of it is very wrong in my opinion.
@@sofia_c_1 xenophobia has the literal meaning of "fear of strangers" so you can use it this context as well to cover all kinds of hatred and/or exclusion!
@@minellahaas6209 Thanks! I was super confused!
@@AliceMeder As far as i know the book itself is not exactly banned in Germany either. Selling and printing is, as you mentioned. Which is the least any country should to. But original copies don't have to be destroyed or given away. Of course that sill means that those original books can get into the wrong hands of hateful people. They just have to be discreed about it. But with book banning also being tightly associated with the Nazis it's a complicated issue. At least when it comes to the original in private hands. I think it could be a bit tighter here as well.
i am absolutely LIVING for jack´s video essay era 🤭
i appreciate u
@@jack_edwards yes!! Please do more. You are elegant and diplomatic in your introduction to nuances that others might not have formerly considered. Keep up the good work, and thanks for all you do!
Same!
on the discounted books part: Germany has a things called Buchpreisbindung for this exact reason. German books have a set price and you're not allowed to discount them unless the publishers change the price, so that independent publishers and stores can compete with the big chain stores. You also have to pay a big fine if you violate this law.
Not only in Germany but in many Western European countries
😮
you're right, i wish i'd mentioned this! in the UK it's the Net Book Agreement and in France it's the Lang Law. not sure what the rules are in the US though, or if there are any!!
@@jack_edwards I think it's more strict in Germany though. Because stores can't do "Buy 2 get 1 half price" or something like that which is pretty much the norm in UK non-indie book shops.
What a useless, tyrannical law.
Thank you for making a distinction between libraries and indie bookshops. I run an occult bookshop and I've had so many people saying that I'd make loads of money selling HP. I don't want to sell it for obvious reasons and I've had people say that she 'shouldn't be cancelled for having an opinion.' Like- never once did I tell anyone what to do (though my own opinions are very clear) I just don't want to sell it in my own personal shop! It's not exactly hard to get hold of, but I ain't giving her a penny of my own personal money. That is not cancelling/ banning, it's being a human with a right to buy what I damn well please.
Really? In an occult bookshop? Do you sell many fictional works normally to prompt that kind of suggestion?
I do sell a small amount of fiction yes, so it isn't totally random but still...
I really had to check my brain, as I assumed you weren't selling H.P. Lovecraft
I've never read Harry Potter, but I'm genuinely curious what your reasons for not selling it are
Honestly, all of this could have been avoided if Ru had just given a large donation and sponsored them and amplified their platform. 🤦🏼♀️
why would he just give a large donation? that doesn't make sense. he was never in it for the promotion of queer voices, he was in it for the money.
also, the way he asked to have the title of “co-founder” is a bit insane to me because he literally did not found the bookstore lmao
@@andrewsun8773 Yeah, it does seem a bit fishy that he comes in as the co-founder and the next thing you know, a business with a promising concept has been turned into a drop-shopping site that doesn't have anything to do with the original idea.
That would require him to not be the center of attention...
It’s possible this could have been the original founders ideas too. That they pitched this drop-shipping deal to RuPaul and needed his investment.
Ru has always been an opportunist. One cannot deny his massive impact on the growing societal acceptance for the drag community, but we also cannot let that overshadow that Ru profits immensely from it. All Ru does is motivated by fame and fortune
Yeah… like what Lady Gaga does, or Madonna, or any famous and rich person…
@@Chrysobubulle More than an opportunist. He's a judgemental asshole, or at minimum he presents as one.
A for-profit retailer curating its inventory does not equal censorship. What people expected to pay for in a RuPaul bookstore was a curated space, only to find out it was Amazon-lite with a subscription for the pleasure of buying.
I'm absolutely obsessed with the sentence "Conversations need to move foward - through conversations"
RuPaul sucks, and I don't understand why people keep being surprised when he proves this once again. He has his place in history, I won't deny that, but over the last decade he's messed up so much, the unwavering adoration from the queer community is getting weird. He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he is RuPaul, and, well, I guess he can.
yeah well said.he and drag race have a place in queer history and rupaul has done some good. but he's also done a lot of shitty things and as a queer person do not consider rupaul accepting or safe for me at all.
YES. I find the admiration baffling and frustrating.
It's like the Ellen Degeneres situation all over again. Yes, they were prominent LGBT, but did some shady things.
Yeah this isn't the first time I've heard RuPaul stirred in some sort of controversy
I had no idea he was involved in other stuff
Rupaul has spoken passionately on the podcast with Michelle about the importance of curators in all walks of life - I really took that talk on board, seems he didn't!
omg lolllll
This is so heartbreaking as a long time fan of Shop Queer. It’s truly been a struggle to find the great things they once had on there. The search feature isn’t as fine tuned as I’d like on top of the controversies explained here
bookselling fact if you’re interested! In france it’s actually written into the law that a book has a unique price that cannot be changed by any sellers (except second hand bookshops ofc) I actually think this should be the case absolutely everywhere, but in the 90s independent booksellers came together against big supermarkets (like Leclerc) that started to sell books for half the price, the government then agreed to books having a fixed price decided by the publisher that could not change, even the french branch of amazon has to respect it, effectively keeping culture out of neoliberal marketplace and lessening the impact of chain book stores and online book shopping
+ as you mentioned LGBTI bookstores in london and nyc just wanted to promote Les Mots à la Bouche in Paris!
It's the same in Germany. A fixed price for every book. Great for authors, the publishing industry and independent bookstores who can compete against Amazon and large chains.
There's been a discussion about that in Poland for a few years now, but it's quite heated, since books are quite expensive here and all the discount bookstores are a huge part of the market.
Expanding from 3000 to 10million books, how else did they expect that to work out 😮 This number is too high for us humans to grasp
In some places like Germany there is no unwritten rule to not undercut other book sellers with cheaper prices… there are written rules, you are not allowed to sell new books for less than what the official price is. No sales no nothing.
It never occurred to me that Oprah was the celebrity Book Club pioneer and that she did so much for the publishing industry. Super interesting video, Jack! Keep feeding us more book knowledge! 🍽📚
To add to the two bookstores listed. The queer emporium in Cardiff and Gay-on-wye in hay-On-Wye. Are phenomenal bookstores that also provide safe spaces for local queer people. Highly recommend. I go to them both as much as I can ❤
excited to visit during Hay Festival this year!!
@jack_edwards Oh, I am hoping to see you talk with Nathan Newman (if I can get travel up there). Would you be comfortable with someone greeting you or wanting a photo with you if they see you? (wanna know and respect your boundaries beforehand) thank you!
Bookish Type is another nice queer bookshop if you're ever in Leeds! I was really impressed with the selection there.
not to sound all high and mighty but I'm not at all surprised rupaul would do this given the transphobic comments hes made and the exclusionary approach he takes to drag. As a queer person i have never personally considered rupaul to be a safe space.
Oh yeah I remember when he considered breast implants and estrogen to be the same as steroids in the Olympics. Several trans contestants stopped taking hormones or dressed in gender neutral clothing so they wouldn't get kicked out of the show.
@@liriodendronlasianthuscall me an idiot if I'm way off base here, but isn't a big part of drag dressing up in a costume of gender different to your own? If a trans woman does drag, shouldn't she be a drag king and not a drag queen? I've seen the occasional cis woman doing drag queen stuff before, too, but it always felt off to me because I thought a big part of the point was the crossdressing aspect of it?
@@msjkramey This is such a great question. The concept of "drag" as a whole is simply a performance of exaggerated gender expression, be it feminine, masculine, or any other. While drag does often involve cross-dressing (presenting as a gender you don't identify with), it is not an inherent part of the artform. I totally don't blame you for assuming this, because it's a very common misconception, and drag artists who perform as the gender they identify with are definitely in the minority. But if you think about it, if a trans woman has gone through all the effort, time and suffering it often takes to transition, it makes sense that they might enjoy amping up their femininity to a whole other level and serving not just "woman", but "WOMAN" 🤩 The same could be said for trans men and their expression of masculinity. Furthermore, I'm a cisgender woman, and I've dabbled in female-presenting drag because I find it a really fun and interesting way to think about and reexamine my own ideas of femininity and what being a woman means to me. So yes, while cross-dressing is a huge part of drag, and many drag artists use it as a way to consider and play around with presenting as a gender they don't identify with, there's no single right way to do drag and cross-dressing doesn't always have to play a part. Hope this helps!
@@margottago that was so detailed! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything
wholesome thread ❤
Jack should definitely make a podcast. Cannot stop watching his videos while studying!
it's coming!!!!
@@jack_edwards OMG CANNOT WAIT!!!
@@jack_edwards OMG YAAAAAY!!!!
@@jack_edwards AAAHHHHH YAYYYYYYY
@@jack_edwards OMG Actually?? You have no idea how excited I am by this I can't wait.
I was initially of the “if you claim to be inclusive you need to include povs you don’t agree with/may be harmful” school of thought. Taking into consideration this video and the comments left by smarter people than me… I have changed me mind 😅. Thank you for sharing with and educating me❤
So you now want to suppress povs you don’t agree with again. What an ideological roller coaster 🙄
I mean, this is the reason that brick and mortar bookstores have people called buyers who CURATE which books will be on their shelves, taking into account their customers and what they want to buy and read...
I work at a small bookstore in Germany. First am foremost: Creating and maintaining an online shop as a small bookstore with limited resources and staff is a nightmare. We decided to run our online bookshop via a dropshipping company, which delivers all of the ordered books directly to us, where we wrap and ship the books from individually. This means we only have very limited control over what can be ordered from us. We do place our personal recommendations very prominently, which minimises the amount of bad books ordered, and because the books first get sent to us we are alway able to intervene, if a book has harmful content or goes against what we stand for as a bookstore. Sometimes there are books, which aren't offensive and we completely dislike, but the truth is: some people find enjoyment in the shittiest of books. If they are not offensive or hateful, we still sell these. Deciding to curate you online shop means you are not including those books, meaning you won't sell those books, meaning you'll give up a substantial part of profit. Sometimes, deciding to not curate your online shop by hand isn't lazy, it's existential. Long story short: Not every small bookshop, which uses a dropshipping company for its online presence, does it because of laziness, sometimes they just want to survive
Which, very crucially, DOES'NT mean, that anything Allstora did was in any way acceptable. But with tbh with a face like RuPaul in the mix I wouldn't consider Allstory neither independent nor small
Do you feel comfortable in telling where you work? I might want to check out your store since Im also from Germany 😊 If you dont want to, thats absolutely fine though
As someone who just learned about this, happy to see the discourse being continued.
Rainbow Capitalism is now one of my favourite terms
RuPaul will accept anyone's identity without questioning? When.
I think I could actually see a 'community flagging system' being a decent addition to an already curated book shop, in a 'we do our best, but we may sometimes miss things, so community can flag for ableism, racism, sanism, xenophobia, fatphobia, etc'. Hopefully it would mostly be something along the lines of 'has x language, but does not support x bigotry' or even 'not explicitly x-phobic but some passages have language with x-phobic undertone', but that could still be helpful
Fantastic idea! I hope the 10 books you’ll be left with are really well written, and of course offensive to nobody.
@@littlecatfeet9064I dont think they were suggesting all the books with potentially offensive content be removed, but ok -_-
love the longer video essay form!!
3:32 did Ru really say... 'the conversation needs to move forward... through conversations... ' 👀
Might I add Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas to the recommended list? It's a YA sort of paranormal fantasy romance story about a gay trans boy trying to find acceptance in his community and help the spirit of the boy he fell in love with over the course of the book. It is on the list of books Texas has proposed banning.
I really wanted to like this book but thought it was slow and boring 😢
It's SUCH a good book
I was scrolling through comments to see if someone would mention that book :)
@@eeegee I really liked how main characters were built, but I think the plot was really predictable.... or I have read too many books and fanfics ;) either way: I liked the book in general, even if plot points made me mad a few times :)
In France, where I live, it is ILLEGAL to sell a book cheaper than its original price. I think that is the only solution for small businesses to survive
Throwing into the world another great queer bookseller, Vancouver's Little Sisters, who meaningfully battled censorship by suing the Canadian government for declaring their wares "obscene materials" and refusing to allow their import. They won (ish - TLDR, the Supreme Court found that existing obscenity legislation was valid, but that the manner Canada Customs agents used to determine obscenity was discriminatory and overly broad).
Thank you for this! Gunna start ordering from them
I was in my teens when this ridiculous battle was going on and sadly remember it all too well. Felt angry that Little Sisters was constantly under attack. Thankfully they're still around and thriving 💙. Excellent recommendation!! 🤗🏳️🌈⚧️🏳️⚧️ 🇨🇦
Totally second your Bluestockings recommendation! I stop by every time I visit NYC. Not only do they have a fantastic selection of activist books, but also they’re worker-owned, and the City’s only queer-, trans-, and sex-worker-run bookshop!
Jack you NEED to make a video reading Urdu books and poetry. You'll find a hidden treasure in there
oooh do you have any specific recommendations?
@@jack_edwards if you're doing Urdu poetry, Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Ahmed Faraz are two of the greatest of all-time. Faiz was a lefty socialist in his time, so his leanings may be your vibe. If you want to go real old, then probably Mirza Ghalib.
@@jack_edwards Manto and Ismat Chughtai from South East Asia are two big names in progressive Urdu writing. A lot of people would mention poetry and there's no dearth of it sure, but there is a gold-mine of Urdu prose waiting to be discovered by Western readers today. Would love to hear your thoughts on the same! As a native Urdu speaker, I personally find the works of Manto fascinating as I just mentioned, and while I have personally not read any Ibn Safi mystery stories, my mother really adores that series. Love from India ❤
This comment thread made me so happy :') love to see Urdu getting the love it deserves
Hindi poetry too !!!
“The brand must be a Pinocchio sidekick cause it’s suddenly jiminy…crickets” is an iconic line
“BomBASTIC side eye to Toyota” really got me good. Well done on this video!! I was skeptical going in but I thought you did a really thorough yet breezy job telling the tale. I would watch more video essays by you!
jack pls start a book club 🙏
I love your shoutout to Gay's The Word
Great summary! Really highlighted for me how the shallowness of Allstora’s politics (rainbow capitalism, as you said) forced it into this no-win situation. They genuinely understood the Right’s book bans to be a serious problem (hence the bus) but they had such a superficial take on it that they couldn’t work out what to do when ppl said there were books *they* shouldn’t be platforming.
"the conversation needs to move forward [...] through conversation"
Jack making multiple fracking jokes takes the cake
NEW‼️ JACK EDWARDS‼️ VIDEO‼️ WHERE‼️ HE‼️ TALKS‼️ ABOUT‼️ BOOK AND PUBLISHING DRAMA‼️👹👹👹👹👹👹👹👹👹👹
What makes me sad is that I genuinely enjoy Eric Cervini’s (queer historian and shop queer’s co founder) content so much, and have found so many of my favorite queer authors and books and knowledge through him. And RuPaul can walk away from this mess relatively unscathed while ShopQueer is pretty much done.
10:46 The book on the right here, ‘Hell Followed With Us’ is actually a queer, YA dystopian fantasy written by a trans author. Not saying the filters work but it did grab that one which is a great read!
Omg a new Jack Edwards video, I’m frack- I mean, freaking out!
0:04 (Recreates Bob the Drag Queen and Peppermint doing the cross)
Excuse me! Don’t forget Pep as well?
Thank you for making a video about this! I really like your video essays, I think it's a type of videos that really suits you, hope we get to see more of them in the future
Happy trans day of visibility! If you want some really awesome drag Queen representation, you can read One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Though the queen is only a side character, they are absolutely amazing.
Plus: as a lesbian I think it really represented wlw love pretty good :)
such a great book!!
I love libraries like Queer Liberation Library that are online libraries that actually seek to curate queer inclusive and educational books! And it’s free!!!!
I had not even heard of Allstora prior to seeing your video. Much like the website and the book, the very existence of this controversy also stands to benefit…. Wait for it…. Drum roll please…. Ru Paul! It’s like the old adage, no news is bad news. As long as Ru is the story, he wins.
thank you so much for making this video! it sparked an hour long debate between me and my dad. we both took a lot away from it and im loooving your video essay era.
your video essays are the only things getting me thru easter exam season 😭😭
omggg your personality is perfect for this type of video, it's actually capturing my failiure of an attention span
When I saw RuPaul pushing Allstora on Colbert’s show I immediately recognized it as both a store front for a much larger company, and a money grab. 😝 Now, here’s an idea for you Jack…how about taking a look at the Lammy Literary award nominees? I’d be totally here for it. I’d love to see a little more buzz for the awards. 😁
I've never heard of this so thank you for the comment! 😊
Woke up on Easter Sunday only to be blessed with Jack's new video let's go
All these celebs create book clubs for the same reason: to either sell their own books or to produce/star in the adaptation.
I love that we are getting a sit down social commentary video from you Jack! It's a fun way to mix things up.
I LOVE a video essay - more please! This was very well done 😊
thank you!!
After seeing your Instagram story I extra appreciated the editing effects 😂
I love the video essay format! This topic is so interesting to me :)
Yessss we need to see more of this style vid this was ELITE
Yikes is right! Thank you so much for bringing attention to this. In my opinion, just throwing any book into a space that is supposed to be safe is horrific.
Been waiting for this since I heard about it on yap city !
Very well thought out and researched. I work in the publishing industry and I'm always disheartened by book banning of any type. However, the books are still available even if they are banned in one area. The insidious topic no one talks about is the censorship going on within the publishing industry. Although the idea behind sensitivity readers is a good one, it has become a way to censor authors (they may say that an author doesn't have to make the changes but the implication is that if they don't the book will not be published). And then there are employees who protest against certain books being published and publishers have capitulated. Which means the book will never be available or will be in a censored form. One example is the way publishers expect Black authors to write. American Fiction touched on this and it is a real thing happening. You may not agree with what certain books say, but we all deserve a chance to make up our own minds. But when a publisher decides to censor something before it even gets out there, we're all left a little bit poorer not being able to decide for ourselves.
I picked up Maya Angelou books at the library because of Oprah. Love that lady 🍁🧎
Personally, if I wanted to read a book from an author I didn't agree with like Matt Walsh, I would get a copy from the library so I don't have to essentially give him my money. Also if your in Provincetown, Massachusetts my favorite book store is Womanscraft a lesbian owned and operated bookstore that is very feminist and LGBTQIA affirming. They also hold local events for the community, like poetry night.
How did I miss this happening?!?! great video, really accessible and well researched
thank you so much, i really appreciate the feedback!!
I’m taking a college course about rupaul right now and this was so informative and helpful
How cool is your college omg, would you like to share more about the course? 😍
@@fh6019 it’s a gender in popular culture class and our focus is on rupaul and how rupaul / drag race has impacted queer popular culture!
thank you for making this video Jack, as a super queer book fan i embarrassingly had no idea about this (i tend to avoid things about Ru lol). Having watched you since 2017 it is wonderful to see you progress continuously and shed light on such important topics. I love how you included the positive things that the company is doing and information around the book bans. I also found out about the trans readathon through you and have just finished Detransition, Baby. Thanks for all your hard work! ❤
I was scrolling on insta before I started on homework & in the literal minute before I left the app your video came on my feed! it was perfect timing as I just ran out of things to watch while woking. super glad i checked out your youtube this is awesome! really cool video there isn't enough good lit crit video essays :)
I love your video essays, I hope you keep doing them!!
In case anybody is interested and lives in London: Housmans (5 Caledonian Road, very close to King's Cross St Pancras Station) is an independent (I am not affiliated with them) bookshop in London. They last time I bought books from them, I learned they have a pay-it-forward scheme. So I paid more than what my receipt said so that somebody else may get a book for free / with a heavy discount. I had seen this type of schemes for food / drink / sanitary products but never with cultural products.
Jack your research was spot on, so impressed with summation and interlocking snaps of related histories - yummy delivery as ever. Also appreciate the editing and imagery, paced just so. If I were a chef 👩🏾🍳 I’d 💋 U
Omg thank you for posting I just started the dishes!
i got u
Queer bookshop in porto portugal, “livraria aberta”
desconhecia, obrigado!!
It's honestly rather insulting to hear their defense - "oh, I'm an academic at heart, I want free access to all knowledge". Never have I ever met an academic who would claim that all that's ever been written should be available freely for people to buy, consume, and misinterpret without proper context. You would never call an academic bookshop censoring their stock by selecting books that are thematically relevant, would you? You wouldn't march in saying "I demand Marvel and Mary Poppins to be immediately available, BECAUSE FREEDOM". It's stupid and they're either that or thinking that we are, using those excuses. Also, on a different note, libraries should also not carry all books ever, there's no money and space for that ;)
This was a fantastic transition into an ad read that was relevant to the topic at hand! Good on you!
I agree wholeheartedly with the library vs bookstore take. Before you said that I was a bit iffy on the situation but after you brought up the differences between a librarian and a bookkeeper it made me think of my own local bookstore. It would be incredibly jarring if next to their Palestinian author or lgbt YA section they just had mein kampf sitting there completely contradicting what the owner seems to stand for. Libraries are for learning and bookstores are more about the space they cultivate. at least in my opinion.
We need more literature focused video essays. I believe video essays can give such a wealth of knowledge to people about a topic that they may not have heard about. There are so many discussing the current social media climate, scandals in media and ‘political’ (I don’t think human rights should be or are political) topics like feminism but not many about literature so keep it up!!!
thank you for the recommendations at the end, eager to dive into them!
jack’s book club coming when ??? the girlies are waiting!!!
Another queer own independent book store in Northen England is 'The Bookish Type' in Leeds 💜
cannot watch this vid full screen on my giant laptop without noticing jack's GLOWING skin. drop that skincare routine !!
Omg, that book bus thing is a fantastic idea!
Yes, RuPaul is not exactly the same as other rainbow capitalist companies. RuPaul does, however, do a lot of questionable business and we can't overlook multiple trans contestants' statements on how RuPauls behavior towards them changed drastically after their coming outs. Ru has brought visibility to some parts of the community, while it has left a sour taste in my mouth to consistently call trans women from the liberation movement around stonewall "drag queens" which technically is also true, but has been a very prominent way of denying the existance of trans people in the supposedly "gay" liberation movement throughout the years by less than supportive cis memebers of the community. RuPauls ethics when it comes to many things have been questionable, including the community, so I'm not surprised and i think the time to ignore this has got to end at some point, because with everything going on, i don't see that much difference in the intention of RuPaul making money off of the community and other rainbow capitalists anymore. It's clear what he's about, otherwise you wouldn't frack and mein Kampf your way through society if you cared one bit about anything but your own profits
Video essay king 👑! love your videos and how you structure them ❤
I really like this videos where you talk about stuff that happens in the book space or community. Like the video about Ghostwriting. ❤❤❤❤
I recommend SheSaid in Berlin. Amazing queer-feminist bookshop.
Okay competition law/anti-trust law/economics buff Jack!!! I loved this analysis, VERY thorough. I think you're the reason I'll get back into watching more long form content again❤
More of these types of videos, please! You have a real talent for this 🩵
One of your best videos Jack ! Please do more like these ! ❤️
Thank you so much Jack. I talked about this topic and your video in one of my college classes while we were discussing free speech…I got my participation points today, yessirrrr🤩
unrelated but jack edwards I fw u heavy twin. not only are you literary smart but you now do video essays as well what more can I ask for
1. earliest i've ever been as a subscriber!! 2. i respect you so much for discussing politics with such eloquence and thoughtfulness 3. LIVING for all the drag race jokes you're incredible
Off topic, but as a former picker at an automated Amazon facility, the clips used towards the beginning of the vid give me anxiety 😂 Picking 1 item every 4 seconds without the right to pee is no joke lol.