Be heard on the issues that matter most to you!
This afternoon, I was chatting online with Elizabeth, and somewhere between making lewd, ungentlemanly suggestions and parsing CSS code, I made a policy suggestion about the site. Put succinctly, it was this:
NO Freakin' Amazon links!
Yeah, that's kind of my smart-assed way of putting it, and I have no intention of policing the site and using the virtual rubber hose on people who link to book titles on Amazon, but there are some important issues to consider about where we buy books.
First of all, this site is by definition controversial. It caters to people of all stripes whose thoughts and ideas are by definition controversial because we embrace queers, perverts, feminists, pornographers, whores, strippers, and transgender folks. Some of the issues that we address here — like the politics of sex work or underage sex — are trigger issues that hit people's hot butttons. Just by trying to speak reasonably about those two examples, we open ourselves up to accusations that we're supporting pedophilia or the enslavement of women.
Books that take radical stances are not typically published by the people who are looking for the next Harry Potter mega-seller, nor are they sold by chain bookstores. It's true that now you can buy books by Midori, Annie Sprinkle, or Kate Borstein at Amazon or in Barnes & Noble, but they are there now because of the hard work of small, independent bookstores and publishers.
And we are losing them. Just as we're losing the public commons to corporate-owned strip malls, independent bookstores are disappearing, replaced by huge corporate chains that all carry the same books and CD's. People like us need the indepent bookstores. They're how the ideas get out there in the first place. The influence of Good Vibrations and Down There Press alone is immeasurable in shaping the last thirty years of dialogue about sex and gender. Without them, Susie Bright wouldn't be the household name she is; more to the point, all the women and men who followed her wouldn't be on Amazon or in Borders books now. They would be mute.
Amazon is a media behemoth that has a virtual monopoly over the online market. They are responsible to their shareholders, not communities of queers and kinksters, and because of that, we can't depend on them to be there for the next generation of writers and readers who break new ground in sex and gender.
Below are some alternative sources for information on book titles that you might want to use instead, whether you're just linking or seeking to buy yourself:
The two above are networks of used book stores across the country; you can look up books from the stock of thousands of indie bookstores and order from any of them.
Blog: Literate Perversions
“Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then finally y
I think keeping this a noncommercial space is very important, and too many of our physical public squares are being taken over by large multinational chains and frnachises. Picking up on Chris's post, I think it would be really cool to start a listing of independent book stores in the towns and cities where we all come from. If you know of some in your town, leave a comment here with the name and address, and if possible a link!
(This isn't advertising, this is sharing information!)
Here are a couple I'd add:
NYC: Bluestockings , a radical book store and fair trade cafe at 172 Allen St (btw Stanton and Rivington. Phone 212-777-6028
San Francisco: Modern Times, a cool collectively-owned progressive bookstore with great a sex/gender section and lots of other great stuff. 888 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Just to throw some devil's advocate dust in the air...I'm a big fan of using alternatives to Amazon and other oversized nodes on the network - actually I'm a booster of brick and mortar - but I'm not willing to bar the commercial space from public space just as a matter of principle. After all, Alibris and Powell's sell through Amazon, too. It's dominance and stifling the alternative that I object to. I'd rather Amazon than B&N ;-)
A couple of cool booksellers in my neighborhood:
Monkeywrench books - a radical collective bookstore in North Austin.
Bookpeople - the big indie bookstore in Austin. Center of the "Keep Austin Weird" universe.
RC McCloud also writes at The Safe Word
It's dominance and stifling the alternative that I object to. I'd rather Amazon than B&NWell, that's the thing, though. Functionally, I don't see any difference between them. They both suck business away from the indies in a big way. The Harry Potter craze, for instance, has been of little or no benefit to the small bookstores because they can't get their hands on the books. Distributors almost completely ignore them, whereas B&N literally builds entire towers out of Harry Potter books and Amazon has it on pre-order months before the release. They're essentially the same beast in a different form.
Blog: Literate Perversions
“Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then finally y
I think the important distinction is not between "bricks and mortar" on the one hand and "anonymous Amazon-type retailer" on the other. More important, probably, is the distinction between community-minded businesses that show responsibility where workers' rights, environmental impact, and community health are concerned, and businesses that drive those community-minded businesses into the ground.
I understand sunburntkamel's point about getting your work out there if you're an independent artist. It seems we need to be using the internet our advantage as indie-supportive folks, to help both indie artists and community-oriented retailers!
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
