Tag Archives: censorship

Chicago Public Schools Pull Graphic Novel Persepolis

Jessica WakemanMarch 15, 2013 //
Book Burning
Wisconsin-ites want to burn a book about a gay teen. Read More »
Banned Books
These are the books The Frisky was banned from reading growing up. Read More »
"Mean Girls" Bleeps
WTF: "Vagina" gets bleeped but "whore" does not. Read More »
Persepolis
Persepolis

Update, 5:15p.m.: Chicago Public Schools have rescinded the order to yank Persepolis from the shelves. This is great news! [Chicago Tribune]

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is one of the best series of graphic novels that I have ever read. I recommend it to everyone. And I read a lot of graphic novels. The memoirs recount Satrapi’s childhood in Iran following the Islamic Revolution and the increasing strictures on the life of an artsy young woman who is increasingly at odds with the fundamentalist Muslim religious police.

It’s touching, inspiring, and educational — and I’m far from the first person to point out that graphic novels are a great way to get young adults who don’t love to read to engage with literature.

So why, then, have the books been pulled out of Chicago Public Schools? Keep reading »

Is This Keira Knightley Chanel Ad Unfit For The Eyes Of Children?

Rachel KrauseFebruary 15, 2013 //
Banned Posters
These movie posters were banned for being too sexy. 7 Photos »
Banned Cover
Magazine cover of Azealia Banks with a condom is getting banned. Read More »
Calvin Klein Ad Banned
Lara Stone's sexy ad won't fly down under. Read More »
"Lock the door..."

The British Advertising Standards Authority strikes again! The ad censorship watchdog, responsible for putting the kibosh on everything from scummy American Apparel ads to a photo of an underage Dakota Fanning holding a perfume bottle between her legs for Marc Jacobs, is cracking down on another campaign. Next up on the chopping block is a Chanel Coco Mademoiselle fragrance commercial starring Keira Knightley. Keep reading »

Irony: MTV Airs “Mean Girls,” Bleeps “Vagina” But Not “Whore”

The Mary SueDecember 13, 2012 //

Okay, you might want to be sitting down when I tell you this, but I watched “Mean Girls” for the first time a couple weekends ago. I was pretty well acquainted with… well, nearly every single line in the movie from having read the internet, although I got a good laugh out of “Four for you Glen Coco, you go Glen Coco,” as it was just about the only quote in there that I hadn’t known was from “Mean Girls.” But I decided it was probably time to actually experience the movie, and stop trying to absorb it only from cultural diffusion.

So yeah, I knew next to nothing about “Mean Girls” other than that a lot of parts of the internet that I respect and enjoy are obsessed with quoting it and that it’s about high school, not, for example, that it was written by Tina Fey. Rest assured, these gaping holes in my knowledge have been filled, and so now I completely understand how against the message of the film it is for MTV to bleep a wide swath of non-curse-words, including “vagina,” when it aired on the network this weekend… but not “whore” or “slut.” Read more…

Madonna Speaks Out For Pussy Riot At Moscow Concert

Jessica WakemanAugust 8, 2012 //
Pussy Riot Pleads
Today's Lady News photo
The feminist punk band has pleaded "not guilty." Read More »
Mistreated In Jail
Today's Lady News photo
Lawyers say Pussy Riot has been mistreated in jail. Read More »
Biased Judge
Pussy Riot says the judge in their trial is biases against them. Read More »
madonna on pussy riot
Madonna Speaks Out For Pussy Riot

Last night at her concert in Moscow, Madonna appealed for the release of Pussy Riot, a feminist punk band which has been jailed for five months after speaking out publicly against President Vladimir Putin. This video sent chills up and down my arms as Madonna spoke about censorship, democracy and freedom. What an incredible reminder not to take our freedom of speech for granted.

The three women were charged with hooliganism for performing a “punk prayer” at a Moscow church and praying for Putin to be removed from the presidency. During their five months of imprisonment, the women say they’ve been mistreated in jail. Their trial began on Monday and the women have said their judge is biased against them. I’ve been writing about Pussy Riot daily in Today’s Lady News, but Mother Jones has a good recap here. [YouTube]

5 Ways The “Internet Censorship” Bill Will Wreck The Web As We Know It

The StirNovember 17, 2011 //

As if the House of Representatives had nothing better to do, several people inCongress have proposed a bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA, which is basically one big booty-kiss to the entertainment industry and a major kiss-OFF to Silicon Valley, aka the big tech companies we know and love – Google,Facebook, Twitter, etc. The name alone may give you flashbacks of downloading illegal MP3s on Napster and thinking the cops were going to come to your house and confiscate your PowerBook that was filled to the brim with ripped tracks by Sisqo and Dido. But this bill really has nothing to do with that … it’s much, much worse.

Here, the five scariest things about this bill that we have to hope and pray never becomes a law or else bye-bye Internet as we know it. Read more…

Quickies: Elton John’s Gay Adoption Magazine Cover Censored & “State Of The Union” Funny Faces

Jessica WakemanJanuary 26, 2011 //
  • A Harps Supermarket in Arkansas put up a “family shield” over Us Weekly‘s cover of Elton John, his husband David Furnish, and their new baby, Zachary, to protect sensitive eyes from the EVILZ of gay love. [Styleite]
  • Kelsey Grammer is allegedly inviting his ex-wife Camille Grammer to his wedding to Kayte Walsh, because she’ll only let their kids attend if she is invited. I love how a friend of Camille’s tells PopEater, “Camille is an amazing human being … for her, it’s all about her children.” Um, yeah, that’s totally why she’s using their kids as a pawn to get an invite to his new nuptials. [PopEater]
  • In Snooki and JWoww’s new reality show, the pair move into a $1.5 million pad but struggle to pay the mortgage and fight about changing the toilet paper rolls. Typical high quality “Jersey Shore”-style programming. Can’t wait! [TMZ]

Keep reading »

PBS Censors Tina Fey

Wendy AtterberryNovember 17, 2010 //


The other day, Jessica told us about Tina Fey receiving the Mark Twain Prize for humor last week (only “the third woman in history to do so after Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg”). We saw a clip of Fey’s acceptance speech, but it turns out there was more to Fey’s speech — over 30 seconds, in fact, that PBS censored. Here’s what we didn’t see. What do you think — were her jokes offensive or controversial enough to warrant the censorship? [via YouTube] Keep reading »

Amazon Finally Bans “The Pedophile’s Guide To Love And Pleasure”

Ami AngelowiczNovember 11, 2010 //

What kind of crack was Amazon smoking when the retailer decided it was OK to sell the book The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child Lover’s Code of Conduct? Amazon was initially standing behind Philip R. Greaves II’s self-published Kindle e-reader title saying, “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.” After internet-wide protest and the popular Twitter trending topic #BoycottAmazon, Amazon has removed the title from its website. I am completely against censorship, but good lord! Teaching someone how to be a pedophile is beyond an “objectionable criminal act” — it is abominable! Finally, how long before this Philip R. Greaves II is investigated for his crimes? [MSNBC] Keep reading »

One Of These Mariahs Is Not Like The Other

Julie GersteinOctober 5, 2010 //
Mariah Carey Saudi Arabia airbrushing photo

Take a look at the above images of Mariah Carey: In one picture, she’s in an adorable crop top and shorts set. In the other, she’s decked out in pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Which is real and which is fake? It turns out the fully-clothed Carey is Saudi Arabia’s censored version of the image, in which adorable capri pants were airbrushed onto Mariah’s naked legs. In the conservative Muslim country even superstars have to tone it down.

After the jump, some other Mariah Carey album covers and images that have gotten the Photoshop Magic treatment. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Watch The Censored “Family Guy” Episode This Weekend!

Jessica WakemanAugust 26, 2010 //
  • A never-before-seen episode of “Family Guy,” which was banned from FOX because Lois considers having an abortion in it, will be available for sale this weekend on DVD. In “Partial Terms of Endearment,” Lois becomes a surrogate mother but wants to terminate the pregnancy after the mom-to-be unexpectedly dies. Peter and Lois are forced to watch an anti-abortion video, which tells them, “Science has proven that within hours of conception, a human fetus has started a college fund and has already made your first Mother’s Day card out of macaroni and glitter.” Ha! [ABC News]
  • Walmart wants a sexual discrimination class-action lawsuit thrown out of court because the group suing would be so huge that it may change the definition of “class action” going forward. Depressing. [USA Today]
  • A mother of six from Atlantis, Florida, can’t afford to get her leaking breast implants removed. Ada Serrano said she went from a B-cup to a double-D because her husband — whom she later divorced — didn’t like her breasts. [WPTV]
  • California has appealed a 60-year-old law requiring the state to find a “cure” for homosexuality. [Miami Herald]

Keep reading »

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