Censorship at Borders?

[alli_smiles]

I had some time to kill, so I went to Borders bookstore in Pleasant Hill Ca before going to the movies, and found out something pretty weird. They had no lesbian, gay, or bisexual books in the entire place. Not in Psychology, Sexuality, Politics, or anywhere in the store, except one really expensive comic book, entitled Batwoman:Elegy, which I think slipped through cuz they didnt know....You could order books and wait for them, but even according to the clerks, nope so sorry....They don't know why either. Barnes and Noble doesn't seem to have a problem carrying these subjects, nor any of the smaller chains. Kind of made me stop and think. ok actually, I almost walked out, because it made me mad. Its taken me a long time- think puberty to 43 to get comfortable enough to openly peruse books and speak candidly to friends/lovers/some but not most) relatives, and to acknowledge who I am, and then this bookstore wants to pretend people like me don't exist, and not stock books I might want to read.

[DuckiesDarling]

You know to this I just gotta say, Borders Books is a business. They do not have to stock every book in existence or cater to any select clientele. They reserve the right to refuse service to anyone or to refuse to carry a certain kind of book. In return, we the clients of said business can choose to not shop there and shop elsewhere.

Now a quick glance at the online ordering system for Borders Books shows that you can get a lot of books including those about bisexuality, lesbianism and gay matters.

So it seems your local store has chosen not to carry any titles, that is their right. You have the right to not shop there. But Borders as a whole does carry such books as evidenced by a search like this.

http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?keyword=bisexuality&type=1&simple=1

[TaylorMade]

Yeah, both Borders shops near my house have a full compliment of LBGT books. Maybe it's a local quirk that you can contact the home office about. Never assume malice when it's just stupidity.

*Taylor*

[Diva667]

Yeah, both Borders shops near my house have a full compliment of LBGT books. Maybe it's a local quirk that you can contact the home office about. Never assume malice when it's just stupidity.

*Taylor*

QFT

I've found that a number of local chain stores have removed their LBGT sections lately. Dont think it's some national movement; Might have more to do with the local store manager and / or a local complaint.

I would suggest you see the store manager since they would be the ones who order the books that are to be shelved for sale.

[void()]

"Borders Books is a business."

I would imagine then, it returns a revenue as income to someone. This tells you who (http://www.borders.com/online/store/BGIView_mediabgmkaboutbgi). Current share price is $1.18 USD but Borders is not open to public sale, nor trickle down profit or dividend sharing.

"You have the right to not shop there."

They also run Walden Books. In my opinion, Walden seems very conservative and mainstream. I've not shopped in any book stores in probably at least a year, maybe longer. Most reading I entertain is on the internet freely available more oft than not. Of course, anyone may send me Pratchett works if they choose offering a gift. A shiny man recently got me interested in his writing. :)

Find I'm an odd lot of nutter, outside of 'stores'. We rarely even go to Wal-Mart. Our haunts are the Dollar stores, Save-A-Lot, Sharp Shopper. Even then, we tend to attempt making do without prior to having need of a store. No, we aren't affluent as far as measure of money. We retain other wealth.

[jamieknyc]

Borders is a business, and any local store will carry what there is local demand for. If you and other people start asking for LGBT, they will stock it.

[abstruse_ric]

Borders is facing a serious cash problem so its inventory is very tightly managed. My guess is the chain will file for bankruptcy in the first half of 2011 unless its holiday sales are spectacular, which, in the face of Amazon and Kindle, is unlikely.

[Bicuriousity]

I love borders. I wont hold this against them.

[alli_smiles]

You know to this I just gotta say, Borders Books is a business. They do not have to stock every book in existence or cater to any select clientele. They reserve the right to refuse service to anyone or to refuse to carry a certain kind of book. In return, we the clients of said business can choose to not shop there and shop elsewhere.

Now a quick glance at the online ordering system for Borders Books shows that you can get a lot of books including those about bisexuality, lesbianism and gay matters.

So it seems your local store has chosen not to carry any titles, that is their right. You have the right to not shop there. But Borders as a whole does carry such books as evidenced by a search like this.

http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?keyword=bisexuality&type=1&simple=1

Borders as a whole has alot online- and some stores like SF and emryville carry in store but pleasant hill does not. I got the email of the person that orders, and sent an email. If nothing changes, I will be a barnes and nobles customer.

[alli_smiles]

Yeah, both Borders shops near my house have a full compliment of LBGT books. Maybe it's a local quirk that you can contact the home office about. Never assume malice when it's just stupidity.

*Taylor*

I have sent an email to the ordering person. Will find out shortly if its stupidity.:)

[Bluebiyou]

Or,
they could have just had a string of non-buying 'pervs'.
Folks who will come in, peruse the sexual books (scaring the straight parents into thinking this is just turning into an adult book store) and leaving without justifying the presence of sexual books with a purchase.

Just a thought.

LOL.
We still have a discriminatable minority status.

If someone came into a bookstore complaining to the management:
"There's a black/indian/mexican/muslim in your store, do something about it."
the management would try to handle the situation carefully, but ultimately hedges back from direct minority discrimination.
"There's a perv in your store." and management will move quickly to remedy.
Acceptance of sexuality is still in the works in our culture.
The ancient Greeks and Romans didn't seem to have too much problem with sexuality, but then... they didn't have the moral/legal adult/child age barriers we have (which I mostly agree with having).
Which brings me to another thought which I'll have to start a new thread.

[TaylorMade]

Borders is facing a serious cash problem so its inventory is very tightly managed. My guess is the chain will file for bankruptcy in the first half of 2011 unless its holiday sales are spectacular, which, in the face of Amazon and Kindle, is unlikely.

That's also a major factor. Kindle, nook and other e-readers make buying LBGT books a great, discreet experience. Why risk being seen when you can get an e-reader and no one's the wiser?


I have sent an email to the ordering person. Will find out shortly if its stupidity.:)

Or what I quoted from Blue below.


Or,
they could have just had a string of non-buying 'pervs'.
Folks who will come in, peruse the sexual books (scaring the straight parents into thinking this is just turning into an adult book store) and leaving without justifying the presence of sexual books with a purchase.

Just a thought.


I work in an adult bookstore and we get lurkers who just look at DVD covers for 15 minutes and leave. Some attempt to even open the boxes. GAH. I thank heaven that we don't have video booths.

*Taylor*

[Diva667]

Or,
they could have just had a string of non-buying 'pervs'.
Folks who will come in, peruse the sexual books (scaring the straight parents into thinking this is just turning into an adult book store) and leaving without justifying the presence of sexual books with a purchase.

Just a thought.

LOL.
We still have a discriminatable minority status.

If someone came into a bookstore complaining to the management:
"There's a black/indian/mexican/muslim in your store, do something about it."
the management would try to handle the situation carefully, but ultimately hedges back from direct minority discrimination.
"There's a perv in your store." and management will move quickly to remedy.
Acceptance of sexuality is still in the works in our culture.
The ancient Greeks and Romans didn't seem to have too much problem with sexuality, but then... they didn't have the moral/legal adult/child age barriers we have (which I mostly agree with having).
Which brings me to another thought which I'll have to start a new thread.

Good thought. However, there is a flaw in this logic...

The sex books for straight folks don't seem to go anywhere.

While I agree that (some) of the glbt books are related to sex, not all are.

Yes, we are minority, there is no doubt about that. However, when I can go down and find a book on being a female (sex) slave in the sexuality section, I should be able to find the whole lesbian sex book there as well, or the joys of gay sex. Instead they tend to place them next to Women's Studies, if they place them at all.

Lastly, the store manager may see these books as having very little return for the amount of hassle that they receive from certain heterosexual right of center "family" activists(http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/ideology/anti-gay.) Better to not shelve them and let you & I get what we want online or from another store.

[abstruse_ric]

As I mentioned last week, Borders is having cash flow problems. The reason you may not find books on sexuality is due to Borders simply not having the money to buy inventory. So, rather than worry about nefarious plots of censorship and discrimination, I suggest anyone with Borders gift cards to redeem them ASAP. As reported by Bloomberg today:


Borders Group Inc., the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain, lost more than a fifth of its market value after saying it delayed payments to some publishers while trying to avert a liquidity crisis. The company said earlier this month it was in talks to refinance debt and may violate its credit agreements in the first quarter if negotiations fail. Borders reiterated Friday that there can be no guarantee its initiatives will be successful. If the refinancing fails, the chain may face a "liquidity shortfall" in the next quarter, Mary Davis, a Borders spokeswoman, said.

"The timing certainly raises eyebrows," Peter Wahlstrom, an analyst with Morningstar Investment Services, said. Bookstores are typically most flush with cash at the end of the holiday shopping season, when they can stock lower inventories for the slow winter months, he said. "If they are doing this at the end of December, it's more concerning," Wahlstrom said.

[diamond_tether]

I have to agree with some of the above posters, first and foremost Borders is a business. If they weren't making any money on those types of books - given their financial situation, they would absolutely remove them. Simple business.

As for concern that they have an agenda against GLBT individuals: they were one of the first companies to, of their own volition, add 'sexual orientation' to their list of qualities that could not be used against an applicant/employee (in addition to the federal guidelines of race, creed, religion, gender, etc.). They also offer same-sex partner benefits.

Borders as a company does not discriminate against GLBT individuals, they discriminate against books that don't sell. :)

[ATaurusJoker]

I agree that Borders is a buisness and, if books don't sell, they have no obligation to carry them.

Even if they did sell, borders has no obligation to carry them, or any other book, they don't want to sell. In return, you have the right to shop some where else. Censorship sucks, but so do some rules that mandate what we can and can't sell.