Here at eBook Eros, we believe in a lot of things. Great sex. Positive sexuality. Free love. Open lust. The right to choose who and how you love and lust. A world absent of prejudice. Supporting fantastic erotica and amazing authors. The list is pretty much endless, especially if it has to do with sex, erotica, writing, orgasms, hot boys, curvy girls or cute kittens (ok, that last part might just be me).
One thing we all feel very strongly about is freedom of speech. We want to support your right to read (and write) whatever you love, whatever makes you happy, whatever rocks your socks off or warms the cockles of your romantic heart. This is why we don’t ban books. We don’t want to be Amazon, telling you what you can and can’t read (and then waffling in our position when the reader shit hits the fan by saying that we ‘accidentally’ removed those GLBT/erotic/sexually focused books or that we did it to keep your family safe). In fact, we even have a whole collection of books that have been banned over at the Big A. Books we’re proud to carry and authors that we’re proud to support. Authors like Selena Kitt. Esmeralda Green. Kyle Michel Sullivan. They’re books and authors that have been banned because someone, somewhere deemed them too risque, because someone else made the choice of what you could and couldn’t or should and shouldn’t read.
On the other hand, we believe in you as readers, as writers, as humans. We believe you’re smart enough to make your own choices, to decide what you want to read, what you should and would read. Your books, your choice.
Yet, all of that being said, there are a few things we’re not actually comfortable carrying. A good example is the book that made headlines last year. The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct was originally offered on Amazon (no gay sex, but pedophilia’s okay? We’ll save THAT discussion about Amazon’s choices for a later date…).
Here was Amazon’s statement: Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.
Sounds kind of familiar, right? And yet, it’s not a philosophy that Amazon appears to follow with any sort of accuracy. In the end, the book disappeared, although no one seems to know who was responsible for making it go away.
Which brings us back to Eros. We want to offer the books that you want to read. We want you to be able to make your own decisions. We believe in the Freedom of Speech. But we also believe that there’s a line to be drawn somewhere. Clearly, we’re all about supporting gay
sex, straight sex, anal sex, trans sex, whatever-gets-you-off sex.
Are we comfortable offering fiction books in which minors have sex?
Lolita.
In which there’s non-consensual sex?
Have you read the amazing Pretty When She Cries yet?
Incest books?
All you have to do is search “daddy” at Eros for that answer.
Are we comfortable selling a non-fiction book that gives people instructions on how to be better pedophiles?
Nope.
Are we comfortable saying “we’ve decided that you can’t have this book because it makes us uncomfortable?”
Also, nope.
So, we’re asking you: Where do we, as your erotic ebook store, draw the line on taboo topics, if we draw one at all? What should our policy be? Can you help us respect your choices, your books, your reading pleasure and your freedom of speech while also making sure that we’re achieving our goal of doing good in the world of sexuality?
Because here at Eros we believe in a lot of things, but most of all we believe in trusting you, our readers and authors, to help us make the hardest choices of all.
Your books. Your voice. Your choice.
~
Book review sites should definitely draw the line on all non-fiction and fiction books containing sex with children. It’s like saying “This is okay, folks.” It’s not!
Thanks for the comment, Brenda. We’re actually a bookstore, not a review site, which is part of the reason we’re asking our readers and buyers what they would like us to offer. Still, I’m guessing that the philosophy would be the same for either, in your opinion?
While I am no fan of censorship, I believe there are lines that should NEVER be crossed, either. In a fictional work, these are my personal guidelines:
1) You can put a child in danger, but the child must somehow come out of it okay. If I read a story where a child suffers real, lasting harm or dies as a result of human savagery, I will not finish the story.
2) Pedophilia is an outright no. You can suggest it, hint at it, acknowledge its existence, but this is one taboo that can and should never be portrayed in a positive light.
Let me say that again: It should never be portrayed in A POSITIVE light.
In the “legitimate” publishing world, there are certain basic guidelines for what constitutes an acceptable story: No minors, no animals (shifters are fine, however) and no corpses. I believe that “safe, sane, and consensual” is the standard, but in some circumstances, “dubious” consent is acceptable. I would be just as repulsed by a story where necrophilia is portrayed in a positive manner.
The very idea of such a book existing, and moreover the outrageous notion that the author is attempting to pass it off as a legitimate sexual fetish rather than a repugnant illness, is offensive to me as an author, as a human being, and as a survivor of child sexual abuse.
When you reach the age of majority, what you choose to do with your body is on you. If you enjoy men, women, multiple partners, or inanimate objects, hey, fine. This is America: have it your way. If you were once a guy and you’re now a woman or vice versa, again, that’s up to you and no one else’s business. Children are and should be off-limits; the damage and harm that pedophilia wreaks, once done, can never be undone.
I believe in the First Amendment rights of every American to say what they believe, and I applaud Ebook-Eros for not being in a headlong rush to be the final arbiters of taste and the conscience of the masses. But with regards to pedo-positive works, I say NO. Absolutely not. If “barely legal” gets you off, fine. The key word is “legal.” Pedophilia is illegal, and anyone who engages in it commits a crime that, in my opinion, is actually WORSE than murder.
Best,
J.S. Wayne
Thanks so much for the comments, J.S.
It’s definitely a gray area, which is part of the reason we’re asking for opinions. Necrophilia, for example, is not clearly defined: what about sex with a zombie? a vampire? Where do those fall along that spectrum?
There are a lot of things that are both illegal and devastating that we read about all the time that are portrayed in a positive light: murder, for example.
We’re certainly not arguing FOR selling books in which pedophilia is positively portrayed. What we’re hoping to do is build guidelines that allow us to set and hold standards without infringing on writers’ freedom of speech and readers’ freedom to buy and read the books they choose.
Of course, paranormal creatures such as zombies and vampires are exempt by convention. And I agree wholeheartedly that people should have the right to choose their reading material. It simply beggars the imagination that THIS conversation should even have to occur.
That said, your commitment to letting the readers decide what is acceptable, rather than taking it upon yourself to choose, is commendable. Ipso facto, no matter what the subject matter of the story (“Whaddya mean, I can’t write about screwing my cat?”), someone’s always going to scream about their rights. The question becomes an issue when their rights infringe, or threaten to infringe, on someone else’s. And in this case, I think that litmus test is clearly met.
Just my own personal. That and $5 will get you coffee at Starbucks.
I believe vigorously support the freedom of speech, however, children by their very nature cannot be consensual in this context. Pedophilia should never be glamorized or made to be viewed as positive or uplifting. Until such a time as it is possible for a child to knowingly make a decision on their sexuality they are OFF LIMITS for all things.
Dubious content is just that dubious, but to each his own. What two or more people capable of making a reasoned and non-coerced decision on their sexual activity do is up to them, but a child cannot do this under any circumstances. Their experiences are too limited, their understanding of the world too naive and their bodies to undeveloped.
This is a book that should never have been written, but since it did, it should not be supported. We as a society are defined by what we allow and we, the adults, are supposed to be the caretakers of our children not the perpetrators of lasting psychological damage. If we, as a society, condone the sale of this book we are all accessories after the fact … I for one cannot abide by that.
Ban this book.
Thank you so much for the response, Gillian. It seems that there is a lot of agreement about the pedophilia topics so far, and that is something I personally find uplifting. (I am not sure how I would have reacted if everyone had come back and said, “Yes, sell it.”). I am hoping we can find a way to create some guidelines around it that will work for a variety of taboo topics as well.
I hope so as well. I am very impressed by your taking this opportunity to put it out to the buying public. It is refreshing, not just to have a retailer show some conscience, but also to be able to voice an opinion and have it be heard.
Kudos!
A really thoughtful response to our question on pedophilia and free speech from Writing Out Child Abuse. I’m really happy to see that thoughtful discussions are taking place. Maybe we can come to an agreement that feels right for everyone.
http://writingoutchildabuse.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/applause-for-e-book-eros/
[...] Harley Moore, from eBook Eros invited me to blog on the subject of censorship, banned books and taboo topics in literature. [...]
I love everything about sex all day long… except for anything pertaining to pedophilia. It should not even be a matter of humans have freedom of speech; it should boil down to that shit is inhumane.
~viemoira
But what constitutes “pedophilia?”–and when? “Barely legal” may be great – but what is legal? In the US, the legal age is 18. In England, it’s 16. In Japan, they sell the used panties of teens in vending machines. And Anime and Manga depict, shall we say, very “child-like” characters in sexual situations.
And we publish worldwide – so where is the line drawn? At Excessica, we draw it at the U.S. line–eighteen–because that’s where we are based. But I know many British writers who scratch their head at that, because their age of consent is sixteen.
So what’s a bookseller to do?
I agree, Selena.
We’ve gotten some responses along the line of “If it’s legal, sell it. If it isn’t legal, don’t.” But legal where? It’s not legal to marry your same-sex partner in the US (by federal law, not by state), but I would not want to cut out gay or lesbian romance (I’d miss it too much!).
It’s a very hard thing to figure out. I keep drawing a comparison to The Anarchist Cookbook ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchist_Cookbook ) and the process that went through as a publication. Yet, in some ways it’s not the same at all (although killing/war and sex often get lumped in the same “moral code” category, so I think that’s why I keep drawing the comparison).
Can partners in a marriage have sex? The youngest age someone can get married legally in the US is 13 (for a girl, in Connecticut). MANY other states have legal marriage ages of 15, 16, etc. So… if teens are married, are they “allowed” in books to have sex? (This is a genuine question, not a rhetorical question–I have no idea, and I’m curious.)
Easy solution: if a book has questionable morals, or condones illegal behavior…there is the problem of freedom of speech…but basically, we authors are in charge of booksites like this. W/O us, these employees would be stocking Wal-Mart shelves. If a submission is just too far out there, PUT IT UP TO A VOTE! Let the Authors decide if something is just not right. I don’t want my book being marketed next to something too, too nasty. But then again, my newest about to be released e-Book is “The Slave Ships of Sin.” In it all of these taboos are broken, and extreme vomiting is the Goal! The really sad part, it is based on true history!