Self-Censorship

If you backdate a post, it's like you didn't miss a day on your daily blog! No one will notice. Right?

I think I snagged this from Only Connect again. I used it as a reference in a censorship paper for school and I quite like it. (The article, not the censorship paper. I'm pretty tired of writing about censorship. Sorry!)

Anyway! A Dirty Little Secret: Self-Censorship by Debra Lau Whelan for School Library Journal.

Self-censorship. It’s a dirty secret that no one in the profession wants to talk about or admit practicing. Yet everyone knows some librarians bypass good books—those with literary merit or that fill a need in their collections. The reasons range from a book’s sexual content and gay themes to its language and violence—and it happens in more public and K–12 libraries than you think.

It's true. Not just for censorship, but there are a lot of times in daily life when I just don't get into an argument simply because I don't want to deal with it.

I wouldn't say all self-censorship is cowardly or that not fighting it is cowardly; I think you need to choose your battles wisely. There are times when tactical retreats are necessary, at least if you want to keep putting food on the table.