DECODING
OBSCENITY
Since 2021, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced record breaking numbers of book challenges each year, especially among Young Adult and children’s books. Politicians in Texas, Virginia, and Florida have leveraged new bills to restrict access to what they call obscene materials in schools and public libraries. New parental rights groups say it is their mission to protect children from pornography and ideological indoctrination embedded in a progressive education system.
Graphic by Julia Ercolano
Book Ban Frenzy
After steady numbers throughout the 2010s, instances of proposed book bans in public schools and libraries have skyrocketed post-pandemic.
Annual Proposed Book Bans (2012-2022)
BOOK BANS IN 2022
In addition to increasing instances of book challenges, more books are being included in challenges than previously recorded according to ALA data. Lists, sometimes including hundreds of titles, are now being curated by concerned parties for potentially explicit content.
9 in 10
book challenges targeted multiple titles in 2022
Source: ALA 2022
2023
2022
Professor Nancy Kranich, former president of the American Library Association and current teaching professor in Rutgers University's School of Communication and Information, explains the role of the pandemic and the parental rights movements in the increased frequency of book bans.
2019
2021
2020
Concerns over the moral value of reading materials are not new to the United States, and they often coincide with charged political conversations. As the nation entered 2020, the population was already highly divided on key issues like climate change, racial justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights. Professor Nancy Kranich from Rutgers University describes how the events of 2020 reinvigorated a parental rights movement that would come to dominate the book banning scene.
What is Obscenity?
@$#%$!
Obscenity is one of the few categories of speech not protected by the rights of enshrined in the First Amendment. Allegations of obscenity have long played a role in book banning in the U.S., with potential censors relying on federal and local statutes to justify restricting access to certain books. This was the case in Virginia Beach in 2022, where two residents petitioned to remove two books from local public schools and bar sale of the book to minors without parental consent (the judge rejected to label the books as obscene and restrict their access). Such attempts do not only target the books in question, but also their distributors. As a result, librarians have been accused of distributing pornography and grooming children, and new bills may have them face jail-time for providing access to some of these books.
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As demonstrated in the Virginia Beach case, whether or not the books being centered in censorship challenges are actually obscene is contested and can only be fully adjudicated in the courts. But research at PEN America suggests ideological disagreement as a motivating force to "[limit] access to certain stories, perspectives, and information." In their annual reports of book censorship, PEN America has found that books about racial justice, sexuality, and gender identity are among those most frequently targeted.
Censorship by Subject Matter
Race &
Racism
Violence &
Physical Abuse
LGBTQ+
Sex
Encounters
Sexual
Abuse
37%
37%
36%
27%
19%
Out of 5,894 book challenges between July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2023
Note: books may contain more than one theme
The Miller Test
a.) Whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards" would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; AND
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b.) Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; AND
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c.) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
Determining a set definition of obscenity is difficult. What one person finds obscene, another may not. To curb this subjectivity, the U.S. Supreme Court relies on a three-prong test established by Miller v. California to classify if a material meets the legal standard of obscenity.
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The bar to label an expressive work as obscene is high to avoid censorship based on personal or even societal biases. When it comes to book bans, many of these challenges fail the Miller test because they fail to consider the work as a whole. Identifying several pages of explicit or controversial content does not qualify as obscenity, and such scenes can often be found in many meaningful and enriching works.
Flagged as "Gay"
In the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system in Alabama, the children's picture book "Read Me a Story, Stella" by Marie-Louise Gay was added to a list of books to be removed from the children's section for potentially sexually explicit content. The list was generated with a keyword search for "gay," which picked up on the author's last name. An obvious blunder, this example demonstrates the inexactness with which these lists can be generated. Read more about the story here.
A children's story about two siblings building a dog house together and exploring the joy of reading.
Obscenity for Minors
When it comes to content for minors, state and even municipal laws may provide more lenient parameters for defining obscenity for younger audiences. Many states have "Harmful to Minors" laws that categorize sexual content as inappropriate for minors (age of majority varies by state). Many of these laws borrow language from the Miller test, but some cast far broader nets to capture any depiction of sex as offensive.
Young Adult books, with a target audience of 14-18 years old, are the most challenged age group, according to data from PEN America. These books offer guidance to teenagers as they enter into adulthood, but many parents disagree on what counts as appropriate content for these ages, especially when it comes to sexual content. Opponents of sex in books for teenagers rely on these Harmful to Minors or Obscene for Minors laws to legally justify removing materials from school and public libraries. And books with LGBTQIA+ stories are often labeled as sexually explicit for their candid discussions of sexuality, sexual experiences, and gender.
Age Groups Targeted by Book Challenges (2022)
Adult
24%
Young
Adult
56%
Middle
Grade
15%
Chapter Book
1%
Picture Book
4%
Amy Penwell leads the New Jersey Association of School Librarian's Rapid Response Team. This subcommittee supports school libraries in the face of censorship and other challenges to intellectual freedom, preserving students' Right to Read throughout the state. Amy has over a decade of experience as a school librarian and extensive insight into the importance of diverse and representative stories being available to students.
Silenced Stories Shape Minds
The stories we don't see or read have just as much impact on us as the stories we do. When someone looks at the vast media landscape and fails to find themself, or only sees people who look like them presented in singular, one-dimensional ways, they are injured in mind and spirit. The Representation Matters movement, championed by causes like We Need Diverse Books, advocates for a future where every child can find themself on the page and see the endless opportunities ahead of them. This is especially important for queer and BIPOC youth who are often fed narratives of predestined tragedy. Whether they only see themselves cast as deviant or defeated, or simply never find themselves at all, they are told that society will not give them a chance. But when they do see themselves, they can internalize a message of hope and confidence.
