Drag Queen Lady Bunny’s take on it…
I don’t really see an issue with this position. Replacing book bans with de facto bans by refusing to stock them could also become a problem. I’ve read Mein Kampf and I’d still gladly slug a Nazi.
Mein kampf is a terribly written book. Maybe it’s a translation issue? Does it read better in German?
I read it in English so I can’t say. I just chalked it up to Hitler being a dipshit
No it is amazing. It is so amazing to read, that a Turkish origined comedian took it up on him to read it to Germans, to show them just how great it was.
Resulting in even some hardcore Nazis to end up laughing, because the book is just completely utter horseshit.
bookshops can’t stock every book. Just because they don’t stock Georges Perec’s Species of Spaces or Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller or Marcia Citron’s 1988 biography of 19th century composer Camille Chaminade doesn’t mean those books are banned - they’re niche.
It seems more likely that current, contentious, right-leaning polemic is in a lot of stockist warehouses due to the political machine and the supply chain software is just presenting the inventory without comment.
So a book store pushing an anti book banning agenda is in trouble for not banning books?
Nope, that ain’t it.
Yay capitalism?
RuPaul had come under fire previously for being anti-trans, but it’s okay because they apologized on Twitter by posting the wrong flag (literally a flag for trains - and I’m not making that up).
Regardless of your stance on the issue of a bookstore with a no-banning-books mission not banning books, RuPaul clearly is not an ally and this isn’t surprising.
How the fuck is someone who is so well-known for drag, not a trans ally?
What synapses have collapsed in his brain to allow for this cognitive dissonance?
The person you’re replying to is being a typical internet person.
Rupaul’s Drag Race used to not allow trans contestants. It does now. We’ve had more than one trans Winner.
Ru got some backlash for implying that being trans would be an unfair advantage on Drag Race, comparing it to taking performance enhancing drugs for the Olympics. She later apologized for it.
The show also had some vernacular that was very common in its early days which the trans community pointed out weren’t OK and it changed overtime.
Ru is a fairly old gay man who has done a pretty good job of changing with the times comparatively.
He’s rich, that’s how.
I like their reaction, no censure, just donating profit
The criticism comes after users on X (formerly Twitter) exposed the site for listing books by authors known for their anti-LGBTQ+ stances, including titles by Riley Gaines, Robby Starbuck, Kirk Cameron, and other books from the conservative publisher Brave Books
So, like, thank you for pointing out a legitimate problem here and inspiring RuPaul’s team to try to do better, but complaining about people allowing fascists to get financial support on twitter of all places feels a bit inconsistent
We censoring books or not? I vote not. Is it so hard to be consistent?
You can’t seriously be against all censorship in books, right? Where are your actual boundaries? I don’t think you’d be ok with something obviously evil like a book of cp… Right?
Edgecases are why it’s hard to be consistent.
That’s illegal and for good reason.
Yet somehow the US functions with freedom of speech even with some restrictions.
But we’re not talking about CP are we? We’re taking about how we are still dealing with rightoids censoring books and now the left wants certain ones censored.
I argued against the right censoring books and I’ll continue to argue the same way, regardless of who the next shitty group trying it is.
That’s my point though. If you don’t ban (aka censor) illegal things as a foundation, you end up living in a hellscape. I’m saying your argument isn’t thorough enough. It’s not going far enough. It’s scratching the surface and saying “good enough” when it doesn’t actually appear to be.
I am talking about illegal things because it’s an obvious hole in your argument. What are you talking about about? Because it sounds like you’re being short sighted to me, sticking to a happy path, but I could be wrong. What do you think?
Yeah, let’s put “Der Giftpilz”, meaning “The poisonous mushroom” - a German children’s book from 1938 - up for sale everywhere.
Children should learn how Jews are the poisonous mushrooms of humanity because they rape German girls, killed Jesus and doom humanity if we don’t find a solution to the Jewish Question.
This book can be legally sold in the US.
It almost as if education and critical thinking about what one is reading is important.
That book can be read to children in the context of it being wrong. It can be explained to children why it is wrong and that just because they read something in a book doesn’t mean it’s right.
What’s better, educating people to think critically, or banning things so they don’t have to think at all?
I’m sure this will be the reason anyone purchases this book.
Besides you don’t expose children to Polio to strengthen their immune system, you give them a weakened version. The beautifully illustrated book with arguments which sound logical to children, tons of non-verbal messaging and countless hateful stereotypes is not how you educate children.
A conservative could say the same thing with a different book.
Stop trying to ban books.
They will ban books regardless of whether harmful books are banned.
Freedom of speech doesn’t extend to incitement of hatred. If it does, your laws don’t protect freedom of speech as much as they protect the freedom to call for, and eventually cause, genocide.
Free speech DOES extend to hatred, though.
Did y’all forget the ACLU once defended the National Socialist Party of America’s right to free speech?
If you expect your right to say “fuck the police” or wear a shirt emblazoned with the same, you can’t go around saying the law should keep someone from wearing a swastika. BOTH are protected by the right to free speech, as much as you and much of the left don’t want to admit it.
I stand for the PRINCIPLE of free speech rather than wheeling it out to defend speech I like but then pretending like it doesn’t exist to suppress speech I don’t.
In order to preempt some of the more predictable responses to this, no, private companies cannot violate your right to free speech - only the government can. So if the book company in the OP decides to stop selling some books, I would not consider it to be violating free speech. But I think the conversation has strayed from that specific instance at this point.
According to the Paradox of tolerance from an above poster, you cannot be fully tolerant.
Twitter people pointed out that Mein Kampf is sold there, but it’s a historic book and valuable to read to understand the roots of fascism to fight it.
Mein Kampf is a pretty poor source to understand the roots of fascism. People have this idea, that Hitler was some elaborate writer, who laid out a comprehensive and enchanting piece of work, that was then surrounded by mysticism.
You don’t understand the roots of fascism from books written by fascists. You understand it from looking at fascists in action, both on the side of agitators and those following the agitation. And the roots are pretty simple: Combine fear with hatred and an inferiority complex, mix it with simple solutions and by elevating individuals of the in-group by terrorizing the out-group.
Yeah people should have access to the nutjob right wing shit as a learning tool. Can’t defeat your enemy unless you understand them.
It’s not censorship if it’s words by people you dislike, silly! Everyone with a real education knows that!
(Edit: /s because I guess someone might say this unironically?)
Ok but, we should refer to them as he or she?
He’s written in his autobiography, which was published in 1995: "You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.
https://www.distractify.com/p/rupaul-pronouns
This isn’t a secret.
Damm I like they POV. 👍👍
Guys legitimate questions shouldn’t be down voted. They are a drag queen and not everyone is going to know.
New people will ask the same questions over and over. You can’t just downvote it cause you are tired of answering.
Also the answer, is mostly He/Him, but while in drag She/Her is more appropriate. But also you use whatever, drag can be tricky and few mind and will say so.
Edit: alright wasn’t so legitimate, should have read the name, but you got to at least give it try first. And trolls get less of you don’t give them their flagellation.
Questions that can be googled easily should be downvoted.
But also, look at their username, and other comments. It was not a legitimate question.
Google sucks and sometimes conversations are dumb questions. But also I really didn’t read either until like the second message. I try not to pre-emptive stalk and just try to converse.
Drag queen it’s like a fancy terminology for transvestite?
Or they are cis men dressing like women but still being straight?
A drag queen is an entertainer and drag is an art form. Some are cis men, some are trans women, some are trans men, some are non-binary people and some are cis women. The vast majority are queer, but some are straight people do drag too. So basically anyone can do drag, but the majority are queer cis men.
Also transvestite is an archaic term and is mostly offensive/derogatory.
Serious question: is transvestite derogatory in its use in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?
No, not at the time it was made, but the modern LGBTQIA+ lexicon has moved on from it
Fun fact: On Drag Race, Ru used to give messages to the contestants and called it “She-mail”, but they (reluctantly) stopped calling it that due to heavy viewer criticism
Edit: I should have also said the “She-mail” thing was heavily criticized by former contestants as well, which was probably an additional factor that made the show change the name
Mostly for show. Like committing to being a power ranger.
Like being a man/woman and dressing as a woman/man for social validation?? To entertain people??
Yup. Exactly like a power ranger.
Say you really liked the color green and punching baddies and wanted to show everyone else that green was awesome and punching baddies was cool too.
So you buy a green suit, get a giant green tiger car, and even have everyone just call you “Green Ranger” while you are in the suit, just to make sure everyone knows you are committed and sell the character. And it’s fun and people clap for you because it’s cool to see a performer doing the thing they enjoy.
So instead of dressing in primary colors and punching underpaid stunt actors in latex, they dress up as empowered women and stick to character to entertain. Mostly. There are exceptions of course, you could also be a silly side character robot or a floating face but that’s getting into other topics.
Then I will say still a “He”
That’s great! Still now aware of the show.
The exit is on the left and you have a great day Sir/Madam.
That’s Miss Mama Ru to you.
