"The week of Sept 24 - Oct 1 is Banned Books Week, a time when libraries, schools, and bookstores celebrate our First Amendment freedom to read while drawing attention to the harms that censorship does to our society and our individual freedoms," so wrote Molly Raphael in today's edition of HuffPost.
"...far more often than we may realize, individuals and groups have sought to restrict access to library books they believed were objectionable on religious, moral, or political grounds, thereby restricting the rights of every reader in their community. For example, this summer the Republic (Mo.) school board voted to remove Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer from the school library as a result of a complaint that the book 'teaches principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth.'
You can read the entire article here.
And remember, after they ban books, people (like us) are next.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
They Ban Books, Don't They?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ladies or Gentlemen
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/Smxl6MTUm9I/AAAAAAAAFCE/102vQ7LUtdA/s320/robt-livingstone---goodnight-sweetheart---1944.jpg)
I bought a stack of books there for $30 when I visited the store shortly after it opened earlier this year and I returned Friday to see if there was anything new of interest to buy.
I walked out with three books for $25. Two books were excellent buys, but my big score was Ladies or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-Dressing in the Movies.
Published in 2005, Ladies or Gentlemen is a coffee table size book that lists for $65, but I bought it for $16.50. (What a deal!) According to Amazon.com, the 407-page book is a "pictorial history" that "examines the grand tradition of male cross-dressing in the movies through more than 700 photos, more than half of which are previously unpublished."
The book is very comprehensive and seems to document every noteworthy appearance of an actor appearing en femme in a film, both foreign and domestic. I have followed the en femme film genre very closely over the years, yet there are films in this book that were new to me, for example, the comely Robert Livingston appearing in the 1944 film Goodnight Sweetheart (pictured above right).
I know I would not have paid list price for this book or even the discounted Amazon price ($45), but at $16.50, I could not resist. If you can make a similar score, I highly recommend adding Ladies or Gentlemen to your library especially if you are a big film fan like I am.
While on the topic of books, please read and consider responding to my Book Report posting below. So far, seven thoughtful comments follow the post and I hope you will add yours, too.
Friday, July 24, 2009
book report
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/SmnNYJPlD2I/AAAAAAAAFBU/rZtgWauM-FY/s400/book-stack.jpg)
I started reading every book I bought, but I finished reading few.
Maybe it's just me, but I found the majority of transgender-related non-fiction books to be boring. I read a few from cover-to-cover, but most did not hold my interest and I added them to my tall stack of unfinished books.
So, I'm curious which transgender-related non-fiction books you liked and why?
I'm also curious about what would be your "ideal" trans non-fiction book, i.e., what would you like to see in a trans book that you have never or seldom seen before?
Please answer using the Comments feature of this blog or by e-mail.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Peter Ackroyd
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/SYRxryNfcBI/AAAAAAAAD3w/fNpuN19vX4c/s320/dressing+up+0309115.jpg)
I recognized the author's name. One of the first books I ever read about femulation was written by an author of the same name. His name stuck in my head because he shared his last name with one of my favorite Saturday Night Live Not Ready For Prime-Time Players.
I wondered if he and the author of the Poe book were one and the same. So, I looked him up on Wikipedia and indeed, he was the author of Dressing Up: Transvestism and Drag: The History of an Obsession published in 1979.
I lost that book in the Great Purge of 1983, however, I liked the book a lot (it had lots of pictures), so I reacquired it a few years ago on eBay.
And so it goes.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/STks3wBfC4I/AAAAAAAADc4/2lbWGhwvzSo/s200/choosingdress.jpg)
Erin, the brains behind A Dress A Day, recently reviewed a book titled Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me. The book offers fashion advice and in my opinion, belongs in the library of every serious femulator (read the review and decide for yourself). I dunno about you, but my mother offered me no fashion advice for the distaff side of my closet, so this book will fill that void.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
dream analysis
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/SJ2zUjoi5eI/AAAAAAAACDE/W4MIm8OEHxQ/s320/asleep.jpg)
One book devoted one paragraph to the subject and was not very revealing. In a nutshell, the book indicated that if you dreamed about crossdressing, then you may have gender issues!
Who would have thought?
Monday, July 16, 2007
simply gorgeous
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EE_8WZK1okE/Rpt34r4MaVI/AAAAAAAAAMg/xB9YF3I-idg/s320/gorgeousdvd.jpg)
I was flattered, but being a professional writer, I was not confident that I could quickly compose a set of instructions that would accurately describe what I do. Not to mention that my makeup regime is a work in progress; I am always trying out new techniques when I do my makeup.
An aside: As a writer, I have often thought about writing a crossdressing how-to book. I already have a title, Be A Babe, with the tagline, Instead of looking like "the Babe," look like a babe! The question is, if I write it, will people buy it?
Getting back to the providing step-by-step makeup instructions, I started researching sources for instructions and in my quest, I discovered a video titled Simply Gorgeous. It was highly rated, so I rented the DVD from Blockbuster.
Here is the product description from Amazon.com:
Actress and television personality Catherine Hickland (from ABC’s One Life To Live) is also one of the most sought-after beauty authorities in the country, and finally shares her makeover secrets. Put your best face forward with Simply Gorgeous, the new video that teaches you how to go from out-the-door beautiful in the morning to drop-dead gorgeous at night. A great gift for teens or that bride-to-be who wants a perfect wedding day. Simply Gorgeous will delight soap opera fans and makeup junkies alike. Get the inside scoop on looking as fabulous as a daytime diva in no time at all.I don't watch soaps and I was not familiar with Catherine Hickland, however, her makeup instructions were very simple, but very effective. Ms. Hickland is gorgeous and using makeup to improve her looks is gilding the lily.
In order to prove the effectiveness of her technique, she performs makeovers on average-looking women and the results are outstanding.
Just add beard cover and I think that Ms. Hickland's techniques would be just as successful transforming average-looking crossdressers into passable women. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who wants to learn how to apply makeup in a simple, yet effective manner.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
new trans books
There are two main types of transgender books, Julia Serano says in the introduction to Whipping Girl. One is the memoir of transition, ending in surgery, and the other is the radical gender-trashing manifesto, in the style of Kate Bornstein.
But that may be changing. The past year has seen more mold-breaking work by trans authors than ever before, from the anthology Self-Organizing Men, edited by Jay Sennett, and Max Wolf Valerio's The Testosterone Files to Alicia E.G oranson's Supervillainz.
Now Serano is making a bid for another subgenre with Whipping Girl: the sharp-tongued blend of personal essay and political analysis. And April saw the publication of Aaron Raz Link's What Becomes You, the mutant offspring of the transgender autobiography, featuring strange observations, loopy introspection, and the occasional venture into manifesto — plus a tender 80-page coda by the author's mother.
Read the rest of the article here.
But that may be changing. The past year has seen more mold-breaking work by trans authors than ever before, from the anthology Self-Organizing Men, edited by Jay Sennett, and Max Wolf Valerio's The Testosterone Files to Alicia E.G oranson's Supervillainz.
Now Serano is making a bid for another subgenre with Whipping Girl: the sharp-tongued blend of personal essay and political analysis. And April saw the publication of Aaron Raz Link's What Becomes You, the mutant offspring of the transgender autobiography, featuring strange observations, loopy introspection, and the occasional venture into manifesto — plus a tender 80-page coda by the author's mother.
Read the rest of the article here.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
new Oprah book club pick has transgender protagonist
Go here to read about the 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning story of a Greek American girl who becomes a teenage boy in 1970s Detroit .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)