Sunday, April 12, 2009

Amazon: Your Virgin Eyes!

amazon, lesbian, gay, homophobia, homosexual,
Amazon has decided that any book with a gay or lesbian theme is "adult" material, whether or not it includes any sexual content at all. So, if you're a woman, you can read books from the female perspective, if you're black, you can read books from the black perspective, but if you're gay your very existence is x-rated.

You know what isn't adult material? Playboy.

This is unacceptable, and we should let Amazon know it.

From Jesurgislac's Journal:

Mark R. Probst, author of The Filly, noticed something rather odd on April 10th:

On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books: “Transgressions” by Erastes and “False Colors” by Alex Beecroft. Everybody was perplexed. Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings, including my book “The Filly.” There was buzz, What’s going on? Does Amazon have some sort of campaign to suppress the visibility of gay books? Is it just a major glitch in the system? Many of us decided to write to Amazon questioning why our rankings had disappeared. Most received evasive replies from customer service reps not versed in what was happening.

And this is the answer he got, from Ashlyn D, at Member Services for Amazon.com Advantage:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

“Adult” materials, eh? Well: that apparently doesn’t include this:

With the first Centerfold, who just happened to be the radiant Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner masterminded a cultural icon: Playboy’s Playmate of the Month. Now, for the first time ever, Playboy has gathered together every Centerfold from every issue into one luxurious collector’s edition. That’s over 600 beauties. We’ve reproduced these Centerfolds exactly as they appeared in the magazine to create a full-size, deluxe volume. Paging through this colossal, chronological collection provides a breathtaking view of our evolving appreciation of the female form: from the fifties fantasy of voluptuous blondes to the tawny beach girls of the seventies to the groomed and toned women of today.

But perhaps Amazon think people only buy Playboy Centrefolds for the articles.

Again, please contact Amazon and let them know how you feel. Oh, and feel free to express your displeasure with your pocketbook- I will be.

3 comments:

  1. note to self: http://www.gotquestions.org/who-is-God.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sent an email. Thanks for posting this! It is unbelievable that they would do such a thing.

    ReplyDelete

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